International Ignorance?

It is a well-known proverbial opinion from the rest of the world that Americans don’t really have an interest of what happens outside of the Land of Opportunity. While it is true that only 36% of Americans hold a valid passport, it’s a knee-jerk and unfair assumption that we are culturally ignorant. Indeed, Americans are the second most travelled people in the world (behind the Finns). Moreover, America is widely regarded as the most culturally diverse nation in the world, therefore, we don’t have to travel too far away from home to experience different ways of life.

But when it comes to following what’s happening in the news, there certainly may be a case for saying America is more focused on local news, as compared to what’s happening internationally. Sure, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is dominating news cycles, but a lot of this could be down to the effect (such as increased gas prices) the war is having on us domestically, rather than say the broader implications of another cold war.

We carried out a study at PR Fire to discover where people are most and least informed when it comes to international news.

See the table below to discover the % in each state who keep informed on international news.