The real ethics
Here are some stark statistics:
Around 30 to 40 people are killed every day in the current Israel/Lebanon conflict.
About 100 people are killed every day in the violence in Iraq.
And 1,200 people are killed every day in the war in the Congo.
[...]
All three of these stories are due to appear on tonight's Ten O'Clock News. They will probably run in that order - with the Middle East getting by far the most attention.
Does this say something about how we value human life?
From the BBC Editors' Blog
posted by Thomas at 4:54 PM
8 Comments:
all i can say is Power to the Media...
7:40 PM
Plus the silence on how many people die per day due to hunger, dirty water, HIV/AIDS etc.
8:08 PM
I believe is not just a question of numbers. All of those deads unacceptable. Maybe the issue is more relevant for media also for the possibility and danger of conflict escalation.
In my personal view the issue is also important because once again the Charter of the UN was unrespected and humanitarian law as well.
9:03 PM
money, power, oil, neo-colonialism, imperialism
1:36 AM
You can't spell "news" without "new"
1:13 PM
Sudan conflict is very old, Iraq will also get very soon less attention... that is what happens. People get tired of seeing each night the "same" story and the News producers know it... thus new conflict brings lots of attention which shall eventually slowly cease away and give place to something else new and "exciting".
What happened with the people affected by Tsunami? After half a year (if even) of news, no one hears about it any longer and I bet the effects are still there and lots of stories should have been told... But people care to hear new dramas, new conflicts... HIV/AIDS? Hunger? Poverty? ... all this is there, and we know it, we have heard about it thousands times... thus what is the point of putting it on TV.
The News bring News not old stories... the TV producers wont attract audience if they put on News what should be there...
If you like it or not, this is how the media world works...
7:03 AM
So true Mart'a
7:09 AM
Have you all read the article on the BBC blog to which I linked in the post? They explain why 30-40 deaths in Lebanon are more important news than 1,200 in Congo.
It's not only the numbers that matter, it's the wider implications of events. There is not enough time nor capacity to report and discuss all horrible events that happen every day so you focus on the most important ones. In principle, I very much agree with that.
It becomes critical, however, when your definition of "important" is heavily influenced by short-sightedness ...
9:45 AM
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