Just aren’t news. Or at least aren’t news worthy on anything but the AP and NPR. Currently I’m speaking about the massive amount of flooding that is going on in Pakistan due to torrential rainfall. Lots of people displaced, dead, and without the ability to get aid, mostly because it’s hard to land helicopters in areas that are continuously washing away, due to the rain. Also, there is a distinct lack of helicopters in the first place. This disaster is probably going to be similar in scope, that is the number of people killed and the needed funds to put everything back together again, to the Haiti earthquake. But unlike the Haiti earthquake, this item of news isn’t being shouted from the rooftops.
What I wonder is, why? Why isn’t this seen as important enough by newscasters to make it onto the air. A large number of people have died. A large number of people still need aid. So why isn’t this news. Is it location dependent? Where-as the Haitian disaster occurred next door, Pakistan is half a world away. Is it because Pakistan is a much, much, much richer country when compared to Haiti? The idea being that the Pakistani should be able to take care of themselves, whereas Haitians would not. Is it because Pakistani’s are, in majority, Muslim? Haitians are, at least what they profess to be, Christian in majority (although if you really know the history you would say Voudon was the major religion of choice and Christianity was the cover-up religion). Maybe, but I have a different theory.
You see this kind of flooding isn’t a new thing. In fact it occurs in that section of the world a lot. And by that section of the world I mean Asia and Asia Minor. Like every year. And the number of deaths that occur every year is fairly high (700 already dead in China this year), and the number of people displaced every year is in the millions. Let me shout that. EVERY YEAR!
That’s why I think it’s not news here, and heck it may barely be news over there. It happens every year. And not only does it happen every year over there, it doesn’t happen every year over here. And by over here I mean the Western Industrialized Countries. Sure we have Hurricane season every year, but ultimately that’s only bad sometimes and what we call bad is anyone dying, 100’s dead is a f*&king catastrophe. I think it’s not news because we don’t care. It’s not the news agency’s fault. They try to only report those things that get them ratings. Our decision on what is important drives the ratings. So in the end the reason I think it’s not on the news is because ultimately it’s not as interesting to the audience as say, a recall on eggs or U.S. soldiers leaving Iraq.
