Four Americans Held on Hijacked Yacht Are Killed is the title of a recent front-page headline in the New York Times. The article starts off with the story of one of the couple's dream to sail around the world, which ended in tragedy at the hands of Somalian pirates. Toward the beginning of the narrative, almost nonchalantly, the author mentions the "epidemic" of modern-day piracy that began a few years ago. "Epidemic" is a pretty strong word, especially to describe something that is barely touched upon toward the end of the article.
Worthy and unworthy victims immediately popped into my head when I read this. Rather than use the murders as an opening to an article addressing the bigger problem in the seas off the coast of Somalia, the article is dedicated to this one instance and the people involved. I am not saying that the story isn't newsworthy, but surely an "epidemic" is worthy of more coverage.
This story is front-page worthy because the victims are Americans, and not because piracy is an issue. Had the victims been a Somalian cargo ship crew or the like, I don't think the story would be receiving the coverage that it is. Unsurprisingly, American news sources preference stories with American interests and people involved.
"Worthy" and "American" are somewhat synonymous in national news outlets, epitomizing American narcissistic tendencies. All too often Americans are impartial to international news, thinking, "Well, if it's not happening to me, then it doesn't matter." But the stories happening around the world are on a scale Americans are often unable to comprehend in the comfort of modern American society. There are in fact Somalian pirates wreaking havoc on ships, people all around the world dying of starvation and countless other things that should be worthy of Americans' attentions, but simply don't make the cut.
No comments:
Post a Comment