Media coverage of most issues illustrates a derelict traditional mainstream media
It is horrendous that terrorists murdered 31+ people and injured hundreds in Brussels Belgium. It is a real story that requires good journalism to get to the depth of causality. It requires objective analysis to understand the genesis of these types of events. Unfortunately, the coverage of the event while excessive is dangerous.
Americans get a disparate view of ISIS-inspired terrorism. The excessive coverage would have one believe that ISIS is an existential problem for Europe and by inference, the United States of America. That impression could not be further from the truth.
Worse, the distorted coverage creates the illusion that those working on behalf of ISIS are having a bigger impact on society as a whole than they do. That emboldens them. Success breeds more action. More action breeds more success for them as our hyperventilating media gives an outlet to spread fear, the fear of a terrorism that is most impactful in the mind of most.
But there is another issue. Humans around the world are constantly under attack from terrorism. Western media coverage shows a bias in covering them in a comprehensive fashion. It is that media behavior that creates the illusion that Brussels, and Paris, and San Bernardino are unique. PRI reports the following.
But this is not the first, or even the second, terrorist attack in that time — though certainly this will be the first- or second-most covered by Western media. Since the Paris terrorist attacks on November 13, there have been literally hundreds of terrorist attacks around the world. Factor out the ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria and you still have dozens of attacks over the past five months.
Some like the attack in San Bernardino, California, were certainly well-reported. The attack in Ivory Coast earlier this month also was widely covered. But other attacks have flown under the radar.
Major terror attacks since the Paris attacks in November 2015
The article went on to point out a number of different attacks that occurred between the attacks on Paris and Brussels.
- November 20, 2015: Bamako hotel attack in Mali, 20 dead
- November 24, 2015: Bus attack in Tunisia, 13 dead
- December 2, 2015: San Bernardino attack, 14 dead
- January 12, 2016: Istanbul bombing, 13 dead
- January 14, 2016: Jakarta attacks, 8 dead
- January 15, 2016: Burkina Faso Splendid Hotel, 30 dead
- February 26, 2016: Mogadishu hotel attack, 15 dead
- March 13, 2016: Ivory Coast Grand-Bassam resort shootings, 18 dead
- March 13, 2016: Ankara bombing, 37 dead
- March 19, 2016: Istanbul bombing, 4 dead
Yes, San Bernardino was covered ad nauseam. Paris was covered ad nauseam. Brussels is being covered ad nauseam. But the others got comparatively less coverage. Most can infer the reasons.
If Paris and Brussels are deserving of the coverage, they are getting, shouldn’t the fact that 31 people are murdered every day with a gun in America be worthy of similar coverage? That is around 12,000 a year. Shouldn’t the fact that 91 people a day die from being shot with a gun warrant similar coverage? That is over 20,000 a year. Terrorism does not kill near that many in the United States.
There are sinister reasons one could arrive at for this lack of reporting. The gun lobby won’t stand for Americans learning about the national epidemic. And, the defense industrial complex with it various appendages implicitly entice the promotion of fear to ensure their businesses continue well funded publicly and privately.
Excessive media coverage on Brussels and similar events provide a kind of smoke and mirrors. The news media must be fed. It needs content. It must, however, discriminate its content. After all, the content distributed must not negatively affect certain sectors in an adverse manner. This has severe implications for the overall well-being of society.
There is a huge fish kill occurring in Florida right now. It is likely a precursor to the future given the anti-science nature of the government Floridians elected. Where is the coverage?
Many issues are left uncovered because of a shallow media that is derelict in its duty. The coverage of the Brussels event and the lack of coverage of most other issues that materially affect is the reason crowdsourced alternative media must be the source going forward. The American masses must invest in alternative media.
The topics in this post was covered on my KPFT 90.1 FM show Politics Done Right.