On 21/11/06, David Gerard dgerard@gmail.com wrote:
Yes. The reason Wikipedia is full of NASA and CIA World Factbook images is because those resources are public domain. That's not US-centrism - it's using images because they are free content. If there's a problem with not enough ESA images, it's up to the ESA to fix that; somehow NASA has survived.
I understand this is pretty much what Anthere said to a group of French government figures - if you want to compete with the flood of US imagery, make it just as available.
Mmm. You want a startling demonstration of the effect? Look at our articles on major humanitarian relief operations. US medics, equipment and supplies flown in by US helicopters from US carriers and US airbases... a reader would be forgiven for wondering if France or Germany ever goes anywhere. It's not a deliberate propaganda move - it's just that there's a lot of good people with cameras alongside the planes and helicopters and trucks, making photos of everything... and releasing them with no conditions.