A question
At the risk of sounding like a PC scold, am I the only person who finds the western media's emphasis on the the (relative) handful of Westerners who were affected by the tsunami to be a bit... distasteful? I'd expect a certain amount of that kind of slant, but it seems to me a bit excessive in this case. Maybe it's just me.
Comments
No, you are not the only one.
I am not sure if the media is giving westerners (I'm really talkin' Americans) what they think they are interested in hearing or if western media, especially American, has become so used to ego-centric behavior that they can not help themselves. American's (and American media's) view of the world is like one of those caricature maps wherein the US is depicted as outrageously disproportionately larger than all the other nations of the world.
Still, how can one quantify tragedy? Families suffering losses, be they in Sweden, Australia, Sri Lanka or the United States, equally feel the horror and grief at the loss of a loved one. The difference, however, is it that the people of thoe nations directly affected by the tsunami feel a collective, irreplacable communal loss. Whole villages have disappeared in Sumatra. People have lost their families, their homes, their livlihood, their towns and perhaps their will to go on living.
We have become used to a western media, "its all about us" attitude. It is not about us this time.
Posted by: Mlv | December 30, 2004 06:40 PM
A bit. But then, it is what the American media and press have always done to stimulate a more visceral reaction among us.
Sadly, they are probablly correct.
Posted by: mal | December 30, 2004 11:04 PM