Major news outlets ignoring important international stories
From March 4 to March 21, 2019, one of the deadliest cyclones in the Southern hemisphere caused catastrophic damage to Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi. In total, Cyclone Idai has displaced over three million people and has a confirmed death toll of over 800 people.
To make matters worse, the United Nations and president of Mozambique believe that the death toll will likely climb to the thousands as diseases, such as cholera and marilia, will thrive over the subtropical flooded terrain. Probably the most devastating situation left behind by Idai is the over 900,000 who are now presumed to be orphaned. And if I was a betting man, I would assume you have probably have not even heard that this happened.
Strangely, it seems America’s and the Western world’s media barely covered this major catastrophe within the past two weeks. You would think 900,000 kids orphaned would be enough to make the front page headline of any major newspaper around the world. Instead, America’s media has turned inward within recent years.
Today when flipping through the 24/7 news channels, people only see coverage of the depressing saga of the Trump’s presidency and the unbreakable gridlock in Washington. Out of the hour time slot for popular primetime shows, such as Anderson Cooper 360, Tucker Carlson Tonight and the Rachel Maddow Show, you’re lucky if they devote five minutes of news to international affairs. It is unsettling to think how the developed world turned a blind eye to major news stories affecting lower-income countries. However, we always seem to care and pay attention to a story that affects Americans or Europeans.
For example, I remember a massive amount of media coverage for the nasty windstorms and flooding that hit the Netherlands in January of 2018. You couldn’t flip the channels without seeing some video of a guy being blown to the ground or a tree crashed on top of a beautiful Mercedes Benz. The news feeds of my social media accounts also showed these somewhat amusing videos of the wind. The Netherlands was also trending on Twitter during the duration of the storm. In total, that severe weather that hit the Netherlands killed a total of seven people. Seven deaths attributed to weather certainly deserves to be news, yet where are the news trucks and reporters when thousands die in a third-world country?
Clearly, there is a bias in Western media in reporting major news stories. Maybe I have been naive to this my whole life, but I find it sad that some lives are being put above others. Poor lives seem to mean less than rich lives. And white lives seem to be greater than black lives in the eyes of our media. We need to hold the media accountable for its coverage of issues, and journalists really need to see where their priorities lie. I understand Trump’s tweets may make big money for the oligarchy of media corporations that control American news today, but when is enough, enough?
Luckily, I can still recommend a few places to find news that doesn’t involve America’s failing political environment. I would recommend Fareed Zakaria’s show, Fareed Zakaria GPS, if you are interested in less-covered news, not within the domestic sphere of the States. I would also recommend Christiane Amanpour for her stellar international reporting, as well as smaller news organizations, such as Vice. We must be aware of everything going on our planet. We are one global community that should be ready to cover and respond to any injustices and suffering around the world.
By Adam Glowacki, Contributing Writer
glowacad17@bonaventure.edu
