The hypocrisy of media priorities

[idolomantis]

Hello all

I don't post here much at the moment because I'm not keeping anything but I figured I could post something like this anyway.

I am actually surprised nobody else did.

Looking at the news and seeing people I hear a lot of people grief about something. This Time it's the death of a celebrity called Amy Winehouse, Who had apperantly Over dosed on drugs.

So many people Appear to be upset by this. However later in the same news There is this short 2 minute coverage About Terrorist attacks in Oslo, Norway. But I noticed a few people give any recognition on this.

Now I wonder Why would it upset people more to hear about a Drug and alcohol addict celebrity ODing(which anyone could see coming since the moment she refused rehab), Yet it leaves people unnoticed or stone cold to hear about an Intelligent psychopath Mowing down 85 Young people on an island they could not escape from and bombing the centre of a capital, leaving thousands affected. Is it because The celebrity had A lot of money and fame? Or is because people are indifferent about people in a far away country dying en masse. Do they consider the life of a famous drug addict to me more important and valuable than other lives? Aren't all human lives the same? What are your thoughts on this, as most of you are from the United states, Another prominent victim of terrorism.

And I do not intend to bash Amy Winehouse or her fans, I'm just pointing out that while she has so much media coverage mass murder happened and got barely any in some countries.

My deepest condolences to anyone affected in Norway.

Thank you for reading.

 

[sporeworld]

Yeah, I saw the news story on the rampage very early yesterday (before, I think news of Amy's death), and it was all over CNN and the other news stations. Very sensationalized, but still, well covered.

When I drove to work last night, the radio was somberly reporting the news of Ms. Winehouse's "untimely" demise.

I'm positive, when my employees come in this morning, and talk about the senseless loss of life, it will have NOTHING to do with Norway.

Sigh.

 

[Malti]

who sold most - Amy or Norway?

who will sell more - Amy or Norway?

answer those and you have your answer.

personally I was more shocked on the Norway tragedy than OD...

 

[Malti]

and unfortunately the death toll is at 92

 

[angelofdeathzz]

I think there's a fear factor in people that someone at anytime could end your life and all your friends/family for the most simple and/or selfish reason, and that is a scary almost unreal reality that makes people think wow I'm glad it wasn't me and my family, which doesn't mean they don't care but it strikes a deep horror in you so much so you may not want to think about it 24/7, plus if you give the wacko to much press and attention maybe more like them might come out of the woodwork for fame or a sick thrill.

Amy may have been a crack head and she really wasn't my kind of music but i for one thought she had a stunning remarkable voice when she wasn't to messed up, some people love to watch a train wreck like her all the way to the bitter end, and then they jibber *** about the whole thing for a while.

So keep in mind she had many fans and was loved and the killer was not so much. My heart goes out to the victims families...

 

[patrickfraser]

RIP Amy Winehouse. Sometimes the world is too much for some people, or some people are too much for the world. This Girl was both. News is just like your refrigerator. First in, first out.

 

[hibiscusmile]

Yea, made me upset when nothing was going on but the Japan title waves and the nuclear plants and as soon as something else poped up, no one heard about it again, blows my mind.

 

[PhilinYuma]

Good to hear from you again, Idolo. The news sources that I usually read, NY Times, Chicago Tribune, BBC, etc, all gave heavy coverage to the killings in Norway. My question is why do we only take an interest in folks, popular figures excepted, when they die? If these kids had had their political meeting unmolested, they would have never made more than local news..As it is, we still know nothing about them except for the nature of their death and the fact, reported by a medical examiner, that "the bullets exploded inside them." We seem, as a species, to be in love with the violent death of others.

Phil Ochs put it most pungently in Crucifixion:

How did it happen? I hope his suffering was small.

Tell me every detail; I've got to hear it all,

And do you have a picture of the pain?

 

[kamakiri]

I think there has been a fair amount of coverage and concern over the massacre in Norway across the US and here in Cali. Terribly upsetting and I'm sure will be discussed more than Amy Winehouse at work tomorrow. I like her music, but I've long thought she was a train wreck waiting to happen. And speaking of, no pun intended, but you didn't mention the high speed train derailment in China...does that mean you don't care about the Chinese?

 

[Colorcham427]

In my opinion this is typical, sadly. I am feeling horrible for the people who are obviously effected by the tragedy in Norway. The ripple effect that a death has on loved ones, especially murder, cannot be imagined unless it happens to oneself to a loved one.

 

[sporeworld]

... And speaking of, no pun intended, but you didn't mention the high speed train derailment in China...does that mean you don't care about the Chinese?

Yeah - for what it's worth, the Train Wreck was the lead in story last night, followed by Amy Winehouse.

 

[idolomantis]

I think there has been a fair amount of coverage and concern over the massacre in Norway across the US and here in Cali. Terribly upsetting and I'm sure will be discussed more than Amy Winehouse at work tomorrow. I like her music, but I've long thought she was a train wreck waiting to happen. And speaking of, no pun intended, but you didn't mention the high speed train derailment in China...does that mean you don't care about the Chinese?

I didn't hear about the derail incident until you pointed it out, really. But the problem I pointed out earlier it did not get any coverage.

Now I went on a top dutch news site to look how much coverage each subject has:

I see still a lot on Norway.

I see also a lot on Amy

I see nothing on any Derail..

And I heard from contacts in certain parts of north america that they only heard news on Amy, and nothing on Norway or China.

 

[crucis]

I read somewhere that most humans have difficulties relating to more than a handful of deaths. After a certain point, individual tragedies are reduced to mere statistical figures - especially if they happen in a land far away, to people you know nothing about, and for reasons you cannot begin to understand (unless you devote yourself to some hours of research, that is...)

Regarding celebrities, these are people whom the public is intimately familiar with; personalities that audiences can relate to. Their faces, exploits, and personal issues have been pervading the media for years...

I guess this could be one reason why?

 

[kamakiri]

I didn't hear about the derail incident until you pointed it out, really. But the problem I pointed out earlier it did not get any coverage.

Now I went on a top dutch news site to look how much coverage each subject has:

I see still a lot on Norway.

I see also a lot on Amy

I see nothing on any Derail..

And I heard from contacts in certain parts of north america that they only heard news on Amy, and nothing on Norway or China.

Maybe they're just glued to facebook or their smart phones. All three are in the newspaper, TV news and on the radio. If your contacts are in their 20s or under, I think they might not find out until there's coverage on YouTube...

 

[PhilinYuma]

Maybe they're just glued to facebook or their smart phones. All three are in the newspaper, TV news and on the radio. If your contacts are in their 20s or under, I think they might not find out until there's coverage on YouTube...

Either of these activities seems much healthier than the necrophiliac attention of many to people whose only interest lies in the fact that they died violently. The same morbid interest is also manifested by expressway drivers who cause bottlenecks by slowing down as they pass a crash in the hope of seeing a bloody corpse. In Brave New World, the students got a good closeup of the dying, and if I remember, the dead. Perhaps if HS freshmen were shown through a morgue, they would get over this morbid curiosity But then again, perhaps not.

 

[MantidLord]

Typical and expected from the media. But what really gets me is that when news of the shooting first came out, everyone was quick to blame a "certain group of people". It's ridiculous how society is. And the death of one person (though I admit talented) due to over dose can't be compared to the massacre of nearly a hundred innocents. Madness...

 

[MantidLord]

Double post. Sorry.

 

[idolomantis]

Maybe they're just glued to facebook or their smart phones. All three are in the newspaper, TV news and on the radio. If your contacts are in their 20s or under, I think they might not find out until there's coverage on YouTube...

No, they are indeed of that age category but they are not like that. We young people are not that oblivious and self centered, really. They found out being going to the cnn website. Nothing on the news, radio or newspapers.

And I agree with mantidlord, the media was very quick to blame the attacks on islam, while its actually a peaceful religion it's the jihad beliefs that are only covered on the news and are the ones doing suicide bombings.

 

[kamakiri]

No, they are indeed of that age category but they are not like that. We young people are not that oblivious and self centered, really. They found out being going to the cnn website. Nothing on the news, radio or newspapers.

And I agree with mantidlord, the media was very quick to blame the attacks on islam, while its actually a peaceful religion it's the jihad beliefs that are only covered on the news and are the ones doing suicide bombings.

Well, young people ARE self centered. I was that way too. And I have trouble believing that anyone in their 20s or under in the US is actually reading the paper. Now I'm doubting that they watch the news...

The massacre has been on the local news every morning and night here locally through this evening. I've read about it in the local paper (OC Register) the LA times, and on WSJ which I get at work. I also heard it twice on NPR, but not on KROQ. Your friends aren't much proof of lack of coverage in the states. Just saying...