Monthly Archives: November 2010

Schicksalstag and the World Press

November 9th and 10th are the anniversary of several events in World History, most prominently the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and in 1938, Kristallnacht (sometimes referred to as Pogromnacht), which is often looked at as the start date for The Holocaust.

In past years I have done a comparison of the results for Google News searches on several key phrases. (I performed the searches last year, and recorded the information, even though I didn’t create a post. If anyone really wants to see them, I will share them.)

This year’s results are interesting foremost because this is not a major anniversary of either event.
“Kristallnacht” OR “Pogromnacht” = 648 results
“Berlin Wall” = 660 results

[Note: In past years I conducted searches on some other phrases which I am not bothering with this year.]

This doesn’t really indicate that the press has finally found the balance that I wished for when I began this annual accounting. It means that Google News has found a more diverse selection of news sources.

It’s possible to limit one’s search on Google News to the location of news sources.

Limiting the results to USA news sources
“Berlin Wall” = 355 results
“Kristallnacht” OR “Pogromnacht” = 166 results

There is definitely still a marked difference in results for the American press. A difference that appears to be counterbalanced in the opposite direction by the non-American press.

Turning the Page

Poem based on prompt at Poetic Asides

Turning the Page

At age seventeen
I lay motionless
in a hospital bed.

With some difficulty
I could move my arms.
I kept up at school

with tutors
and a reading machine
I could operate

with some difficulty.
Four buttons moved a roller
left; right; clockwise; counter.

I regained movement.
Now turning a page
is quite easy.

Usually. Sometimes
I have some difficulty
for other reasons.

A strongly written scene
or an apt metaphor
can provide

more resistance
than gravity did
when I was seventeen.