SOCCER: Comparative worldview

WAIS is especially interested in the worldview of peoples as a cause of war. We have thought ot history textbooks, movies and newspapers, but we should also consider sports, in particular soccer: "In Saudi Arabian news coverage of that country's 0-1 World Cup loss to Cameroon and resulting ouster from the competition, the Saudi team was called "improved." The New York Times said it "showed composure." The BBC, on the other hand, termed it "unlucky." When events of worldwide interest occur now in the age of online news distribution, there is an immediate opportunity to contrast media coverage on a global scale. The FIFA World Cup is such an event and Interactive Publishing's Digital Collection project is providing the venue for comparison. Screen captures from online news sites around the world are being archived as World Cup play progresses. The archives are indexed by game, country and language. A similar archive, with some 230 site images, was created and is still available for comparing online coverage of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks". (Interactive Publishing May 2002).