During one of the most contentious election seasons in our country's history, Abigail South faced international criticism as the American on her 2016 European tour.
Abby South, a 19-year-old freshman at Boston College, spent the fall of 2016 traveling through Europe on a gap year, which to her dismay, did not detach her from American politics as much as she hoped it would.
South was relieved to be physically removed from the panic that paralyzed half of America on Nov. 8, 2016. However, the New Jersey native admits that the constant commentary about American politics from European citizens was frustrating.
“People I was traveling with… would ask me about my beliefs on American politics and then they would give me their own opinions as if they were more qualified…when they don’t even live in America,” South recalls.
South traveled to 13 European countries in two months with three different tour groups. Of all the people she met during her time abroad, only two others were American.
However, that did not dissuade those from other countries from commenting on the state of the American government. South believes that they felt confident enough to form such concrete views about the United States because of the far reach of sensationalist media.
“People see American news almost as entertainment,” South said. “Some of my friends from Australia were telling me they watch American news more than they watch Australian news.”
While South acknowledges that there are areas within American government that need improvement, she also feels that the twisted lens of the media spreads misleading views about her country.
After being exposed to so many negative and in some cases inaccurate perceptions of America, South realized how strong the media truly is. For instance, she does not appreciate how often the term “mass shooting” is used in headlines because it negatively effects foreign perceptions of the United States.
South recalls that the most popular topics of conversation among her various tour groups were gun violence and police brutality.
The travel enthusiast made it clear that she is not trying to trivialize these issues. However, she noted that people from other countries think that gun violence occurs much more frequently than it actually does because of sensationalist news coverage.
“I feel like a lot of American news has made the police out to seem evil and horrible, which I think is really sad because they are really brave,” South said.
As an American patriot, South was disappointed to learn that American police officers are disrespected in other countries because of how often instances of police brutality are reported on in the news.
South would like her friends from other countries to remember not to believe everything the American media reports about the US because “American politics has become extremely dramatic and sometimes not entirely truthful.”