Review: World News Connection

Reading the Wall Street Journal today, I was intrigued by an article about translated news stories from the CIA available via the internet at World News Connection. The Journal shows how one can get a glimpse of history from the database, looking at the beginnings of World War II, the closing of the Suez, as well as other events, giving a perspective of other countries for these important events as opposed to the usual look at how it affects the US. This is a perspective that is useful to people doing research that focuses less on American perspective but lack the language skills to translate. Of course, one may ask, "What if these translators are hiding stuff?" Well, let's take a look at what they're disseminating. They list their sources, so no need to worry. Interestingly, one of the sources they list for Israel is the Jerusalem Post, which is available in English and for free on the internet. I found it interesting that Haaretz wasn't listed, as their English version, while excellent, sometimes has issues with grammar. As well, as one taking a cursory glance at the two pages can see, via pictures, that some stories are emphasized to Hebrew readers while others are emphasized to English readers.

Of course, the question with every source, especially with an aggregate like this, is who do you trust? Sure, it is great to read about South Korean perspective on Middle Eastern instability or tales of Syrian-Iranian cooperation, but no one has the breadth of language skills that these CIA translators do, so of course some information is unavailable. I also had to use my Pennkey to access it. It is disappointing that this resource is not available to more people and is instead dependent on whether your college, company, or you personally, are willing to shell out for what is probably an annual thousand dollar subscription.

We think this is a useful service, but like almost all information available, sometimes you have to take it with a grain of salt.