Turn to CNN on your TV. Or MSNBC. Or (if compelled by some demonic force) FoxNews. If you don’t really like watching TV, then check out CNN.com, or any other assorted American media website. What do you see? Japan, Japan, Japan, and then some more Japan. And this happens every single time a large natural disaster strikes. First and foremost, do not think that I’m belittling the massive and heart-wrenching tragedy in Japan. The thousands of lives lost and the millions of lives forever changed for the worst is absolutely awful, and deserves to be said on the news many times over, as it has. The nuclear crisis in Japan, however, has been overplayed by the media who love nuclear meltdowns and excitement for their ratings, but that is besides the point.
The point I’m trying to make here is that there is more happening in the world that just Japan. I’m not saying the news should stop covering the disaster in Japan; far from it. I am saying that they do need to at least focus on some other stories as well, that are on par with the magnitude of the Japanese earthquake in terms of newsworthiness. And the thing is, as I said just a few sentences ago, this happens each and every time a large natural disaster occurs. It happened with Haiti, it happened with China, and now it’s happening with Japan. (Curiously, it should have happened with the flooding in Pakistan as well, but that is for another time.) The news immediately switches to stories covering the disaster, and only show stories from that disaster. The same stories emerge. Wonderful stories of survival among the catastrophe seem to shine. And it stays like this for a solid two to three weeks. This I cannot stand.
The world is more than just disasters. There is more happening in the world, specifically right now in the month of March, 2011. These past few months have been some of the most significant, if not the most significant, months of the 21st century thus far, and there’s quite a lot happening. Just today, the UN Security Council is going to vote on imposing a no-fly zone in Libya, Bahrain is recovering from a deadly crackdown on protestors by police forces in Pearl Square with hundreds injured or dead. Did I mention that Bahrain also has Saudi Arabian military forces in the country to help try to quell protests? A CIA contracter that killed two women in Pakistan is being released from custody after a blood payment to the families of the two killed. And Yemen is also experiencing mass protests. That’s a hell of a lot of news for one day. Just one of those stories could happen and it’d be considered a big news day. Yet they aren’t even reported, or if they are, they’re mentioned in a passing breath. It’s saddening that American media can only focus on natural disasters when the world has so much more to offer.
And now comes to the point where I beat the so-often played drum these days: that of Al Jazeera. As soon as the protests in Tunisia reached critical mass, I discovered the wonderful reporting of Al Jazeera (http://english.aljazeera.net). Their commitment to excellence and letting all voices be heard, as well as their superbly unbiased writing won me over quite quickly, and they are now my favourite site for consuming the news. As we speak, they’re covering all of the stories previously mentioned, not just Japan. Of course, they do have a liveblog for Japan and have extensive coverage of the crisis, but they have a liveblog of events happening in Libya and Bahrain, too. So if you, like me, desire real, unbiased news, you can be sure to trust Al Jazeera. They have a television channel as well (without commericials!), but it’s currently unavailable in the United States because the TV companies refuse to carry it, due to the news network being based in Qatar. It’s a shame, but you can watch the livestream of the TV network on their site.
So please, I ask the American media to start covering things other than Japan. The world isn’t all about natural disasters, and it certainly isn’t all about Japan. There’s so much happening, and it’s a crime not to report it.
