One of the characteristics of Unitarian Universalists over the years is that we have striven to maintain an international perspective. (I have heard rumors that a bunch of Unitarian Universalists were instrumental in starting the United Nations, but I have not been able to substantiate this.) Taking a broad international perspective, rather than a narrow nationalistic perspective, seems to fit in with our religious sense that the fate of all persons is linked, and with our religious attitude of tolerance and acceptance.

(Don’t think I’m promoting partisan politics! In my experience, both Republican and Democratic Unitarian Universalists tend to take an international perspective — to say nothing of those of us who are to the left of the Democrats.)

As a confirmed internationalist, I find my preferred news source has become the BBC Web site. I still look at the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal for U.S. coverage, but find them too narrowly focused on the U.S. (and both too partisan for my tastes).

One especially useful feature of the BBC site is the section on country profiles. BBC offers nice capsule summaries of most countries around the world, with links to recent news stories. I have found this useful recently as I continue to follow the deepening crisis in Nepal. Where the BBC has no recent coverage — for example, for Micronesia, another country my partner and I are interested in — BBC at least provides links to local news sources or government Web sites, and a timeline of recent key events.

BBC does not have the depth of coverage I could hope for. But as a confirmed UU internationalist, I find it does provide a useful corrective to the usual U.S.-based news sources.