Posted on 12/28/2004 8:05:55 AM PST by dead
IF you were watching TV news over the past few days, it would be hard to know which story carried more weight: The incomprehensible devastation caused by the tsunami which took (at press time) nearly 30,000 lives, or the equally tragic story of airport delays and lost baggage...< SNIP >
In fact, TV news in general treated the disaster like one of those weather stories where the rookie reporter gets battered at the seawall in Canarsie. And every reporter seemed like a rookie this past holiday weekend. Apparently the tsunami would have had to hit Aspen to get the pros off the slopes and onto the story.
When did the Walter Cronkites get replaced by Jessica Simpson clones? All grease and no machinery. And it didn't improve one bit by Monday morning... < SNIP >
Think about the difference in the solemnity with which 9/11 was reported and how this disaster was reported. Can you imagine switching from Ground Zero coverage in the first few days to say, back-to-school shopping sprees? < SNIP >
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
They’re ranking it slightly ahead of Paris Hilton and slightly behind Scott Peterson in importance.
I disagree. I think coverage has been good on FNC. You can't surf on cable without seeing stories about it. The airport stuff looks like filler.
I'm sure it falls in there someplace.
BTW ... Have I told you about my grandchild being an honor student?
See what I mean?
I think the tsunami story is well reported, I just think the story of Michael Jackson and Scott Petersen is over reported.
(sarcasm ON)
"Hey, it didn't happen in America at rush hour so who cares? In more important news there's a stall in the number four lane on the I-5 southbound and, next, we'll have Mary covering the .1 inch of rainfall we had last night in the STORM WATCH!!! segment. Back to you, Tom, at the petting zoo where the pandas just arrived!"
(sarcasm OFF)
American TV news is pitiful. Which is why I'm on FR for my morning news.
I don't buy into the argument that because something bad has happened that we are not allowed to talk about anything else. What more is there to see? I saw the news, and found out about what happened. For the next two days was there any actual news? No. Just endless "experts" stating the obvious. Why not focus on the airport stuff where there is news to report that affects everyone who might be travelling?
Coverage will pick up when they start getting cameras there. Already today I've seen more coverage than I have over the past two days. TV news is driven by images; if they don't have images of the disaster or the devastation it might as well not have happened.
this woman obviously never watches fox News. Montages of the damage were the lead-in and lead-out to every commercial break for the 2 hours I had the channel on yesterday. Of course, from prior descriptions of this lady from other posters, her not watching foxnews doesnt surprise me.
What is it that you want? Do you measure how much America cares by how much time we spend in front of the TV not learning anything new about the disaster? I watched less TV news for the past few days because all they reported on was the disaster. I know all about it, what is the use in subjecting myself to endless amounts of people stating and restating that the Tsunami happened and a lot of people died?
I beleive in the last 20 years there have been worse events. Flooding in Bangledash, and a few earthquakes/mud slides.
Sad to say, but there have been worse, cyclones in Bangladesh have killed a half a million. India and Bangladesh regularly have these kinds of calamities, but you rarely hear about them. The difference is, in this case, many Western tourists were among the victims and that is the reason it is getting the kind of coverage it is. Sad to say it, but it's true.
It won't be long before the 'Tsunami' video game comes out. We are nearly as desensitized to suffering as were the Roman citizens who were entertained by death and violence in the Colosseum. It's interesting that this attitude seems to have evolved in tandem with 'nonjudgmentalism' and 'tolerance'. Coincidence?
I agree. Fox has been great. They have finally got some reporters on the ground. But, time & location & situation are limiters. And the US media is not going to show the dead lined up on the beaches, etc.
I think a lot of people are just overwhelmed by the sheer numbers. It's almost unbelievable, its biblical in its proportions.
50,000 would be almost 3x the size of the town I live in. And the toll is only going to keep going up and up.
Jennifer Griffin on FNC was coughing and choking in her segment this a.m. due to the stench of rotting bodies.
I'm speechless when I see the pics and video.
The sites of the disarters are in total chaos. In order to have news reports there must be both some means of communication, and transportation.
Neither is present. How is news supposed to be gathered and disseminated? Ouija Board? Chicken entrails?
What a profoundly trite and useless article!
I think if you check media reports from China floods of the 1930s and 1940s...there various occassions that 100k people died. Nobody activately talked about it...but most foreigners in the country during this period readily agreed on extremely high numbers.
I don't think we have seen the beginning of this. When everyone is saying this will be the biggest aid operation in history; there is more to this than we are seeing, yet.
Right, getting news from a disaster area in the third world is a long time thing. They are giving us all the news they can. One thing I don't see much value in is the constant harping about how many lives could have been saved if a warning system had been in place (and if people would have responded to it). Talk about Monday morning quarterbacking.
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