This post is in the wake of the second beheading of and American by the terrorist group ISIS, which is undoubtedly a very big headline and a very unfortunate circumstance. The content of this post however isn't about this horrific incident, it is instead about another major political news story, one that has drifted out of focus on all major U.S. news sites. The news story that I am talking about is the Ukrainian crisis, and over the past couple days there have been serious moves by Russia that have been put on the back burner in the U.S. media. This isn't the first time since the start of the Ukrainian/Russia crisis that the ongoing story has been forgotten, during the however long Ferguson controversy, the potential war starting incident was all but ignored by all major U.S. news sites. In Europe however this story is still on the front page. The importance of this news story is astronomical, and has major implications attached to it, and even though there are other major headlines that need to be reported on, the media, no matter which way they swing the story, should keep this story relevant to the U.S. given it's potential implications.
The reason this story is a headline on European sites is because it is in their backyard, they have a first hand view of events unfolding, and they more than anyone understand the potential implications. While Ukraine has been a headline in the U.S. media before, it has lost it's luster and therefore been set aside for the time being for stories covering how celebrities personal photos have been hacked and leaked (clearly far more important than a countries sovereignty). This is just a small example of our ever growing disconnect with the continent we once aligned with.
Below I have attached an example of a headline from the BBC Europe (it was the headline story).
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29029060
Well said and I totally agree with your outlook regarding the "lack of" news coverage.
ReplyDeleteYou're right Zach. The media, especially television, has put it on the back burner because the crisis in the Ukraine doesn't warrant high enough ratings. It doesn't create the kind of controversy in the United States that the Michael Brown shooting does. They will continue to milk this tragedy for their own gain with disregard to the effects it will have on the American Public. On the other hand I don't place all the blame on the media. It is up to us as to what we watch and read. There is plenty of coverage online and in the newspapers but we choose to ignore it. We would rather be entertained than face up to the very real possibility of another world war.
ReplyDeleteZach, It is true that their is not a lot of talk about the Ukraine crisis but most of this is because it is not something, that the media, believes will get their viewers attention. The media wants to focus on the issues that they are going to be able to draw in the attention of their viewers. Most of the time this may cause an oversight of other relevant news that, later down the road, might be important for the public to know about. I also believe that it is up to the level of security that this would bring to the people or country as well. Right now the highest risk, in the eyes of many, is ISIS and what is happening with the Middle East and Syria, especially in the wake of the two American Journalists. For example, it is just like Boku Haram because we don't here much about what is going on there but at the same time it is very important for people to know about.
ReplyDeleteBefore I read your post (and everyone else's post) i did not realize this event was going to be essentially the topic of discussion for the week. Every post i have viewed it seems has touched on this topic at some point or another but the direction you took with this really changed the way i have thought about it and I'm sure the rest of the readers. I agree with Megan that probably not many news stations want to broadcast this because it doesn't appeal to their network viewers (we all know thats what its really about now anyway). I think since we are not in the same area as the chaos that it may not be as important to us but i believe since we are essentially, directly effected by it, that more people should care.
ReplyDeleteZach, I am with you on this. During the summer I heard a radio segment talk about news deflectors. I can't remember all the details...but something to do with when the President is facing some controversy, some wild mundane story automatically appears and takes attention away. It listed events by dates and then immediately another story popped up. I can see how this relates because the way politicians criticize the President by him letting Putin have the upper hand and that Putin is the one that took charge with Syria about their weapons. It does make us look bad, so attention is moved around to cover up.
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