I once went to an interesting forum. Harvard Professor Joseph Nye spoke on "soft power" in the information age.
"Soft power" is a concept Nye developed. It deals with a person's ability to persuade and attract others to do what you want. This is the opposite of "hard power," or force.
At one point, Nye complained that the news during a stay in London was dominated by "turkeys and not Turkey." The local media mostly covered an outbreak of avian flu on a farm in rural England. There was a near complete absence of "foreign" news.
His point was that, in an information age, people need good access to a variety of information from all over in order to make informed decisions. News reports of nearly all local stories do not give people the tools they need to work in this globalizing world.
The balance of news that people want and that news providers give changes by location. It also changes by the degree to which people are personally affected by a story. You cannot force people to read something they just do not care about.
The spread of the avian flu and its potential mutation is a global story and not just a local one. The key is keeping this story in context. Make sure it is not the only world story you report on!
Like any story, it needs the right balance of expertise, accuracy, balance, and insight.
In a world of "soft power," these are the things that separate journalism from propaganda. They are what separate information from belief.
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1
Select the correct answer.
Which statement from the passage above best sums up the writer's main argument?

A.
"News reports of nearly all local stories do not give people the tools they need. . . ."
B.
"You cannot force people to read something they just do not care about."
C.
"Harvard Professor Joseph Nye spoke on 'soft power' in the information age."
D.
"It deals with a person's ability to persuade and attract others to do what you want."