part of the problem
This story is not all over the news. A building in Caracas, Venezuela (in fact, the tallest building and a landmark) is burning. Earlier today, there was fear that it would collapse. Dozens of firefighters are injured. But it's not being talked about on the news.
I don't care if it's not on the local news or even on the evening national news, but it's not on CNN or Faux News or MSNBC. Something like this is a big deal, even if it's on the other side of the world, but the corporate media just doesn't care...and neither do many Americans I would presume.
The problem is that if something like this were to happen in the US -- say the Hancock Building in chicago -- it would be all over the place with minute to minute coverage, a small window at least on the corner of all the new channels, but this isn't even being reported by any of the major news agencies in this country aside from ABC news. The CBC is all over it, as is the Australian and UK press, but nothing here but a few secondary-market newspapers.
The same can be said about so many tragedies. A bomb goes off in Israel and there's no coverage, unless it's Israelis killed...just last week, an Israeli soldier shot up a 14 year old girl and was vindicated, but a search of Google provides very few American news services covering the story. The recent offensives in the Gaza Strip have lead to at least 30 deaths of children but you don't read about it or see it on tv. I don't even need to go into the genocides, like that in Sudan or those listed in Amnesty International's latest report. In fact, right now, Faux News is reporting on Paris Hilton's deal to have some clubs opened up using her name.
It's sad because the coverage isn't even flippant. It's non-existent, and if these are an American stories, Americans would be upset that the rest of the world hadn't taken notice. It's a hypocrisy that's pervasive in our society and one that I can't help but adds to the growing weariness of the United States beyond our borders. If we want the rest of the world to give a crap about us, we have to listen to their problems, if not care about them. But we don't, and so we maintain our self-sanctified insolationism intact, bombing the hell out of those we don't like so much without any help aside from a handful of Mongolian and Albanian troops.
I don't care if it's not on the local news or even on the evening national news, but it's not on CNN or Faux News or MSNBC. Something like this is a big deal, even if it's on the other side of the world, but the corporate media just doesn't care...and neither do many Americans I would presume.
The problem is that if something like this were to happen in the US -- say the Hancock Building in chicago -- it would be all over the place with minute to minute coverage, a small window at least on the corner of all the new channels, but this isn't even being reported by any of the major news agencies in this country aside from ABC news. The CBC is all over it, as is the Australian and UK press, but nothing here but a few secondary-market newspapers.
The same can be said about so many tragedies. A bomb goes off in Israel and there's no coverage, unless it's Israelis killed...just last week, an Israeli soldier shot up a 14 year old girl and was vindicated, but a search of Google provides very few American news services covering the story. The recent offensives in the Gaza Strip have lead to at least 30 deaths of children but you don't read about it or see it on tv. I don't even need to go into the genocides, like that in Sudan or those listed in Amnesty International's latest report. In fact, right now, Faux News is reporting on Paris Hilton's deal to have some clubs opened up using her name.
It's sad because the coverage isn't even flippant. It's non-existent, and if these are an American stories, Americans would be upset that the rest of the world hadn't taken notice. It's a hypocrisy that's pervasive in our society and one that I can't help but adds to the growing weariness of the United States beyond our borders. If we want the rest of the world to give a crap about us, we have to listen to their problems, if not care about them. But we don't, and so we maintain our self-sanctified insolationism intact, bombing the hell out of those we don't like so much without any help aside from a handful of Mongolian and Albanian troops.
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