Covering global events

So the Olympic torch is on the traditional tour of the globe as it makes its way to China. However, due to China's less-than-stellar human rights record, there have been protests on almost every leg of the trip. Interestingly, Chinese newspapers have continually reported the trip as one of peace and unity. Front page caps from the China Daily over the last two days read, "Warm reception in cold London," and "French passion greets torch in Paris."













London and Paris papers on the same days read, "Arrests, fights, jeering: Olympic relay sparks anger and chaos," and "The flame of discord puts Paris in tension," respectively.














Clearly, someone is distorting the facts a little. One of the advantages of working in an age when newspapers are available online is the ability to read around to find out what's really going on. Different areas of the world, particularly ones where freedom of the press is limited, often have incredibly different impressions of a single event, and only by looking at multiple sources can we really get to the bottom of things.