Distance Should Not Equal Indifference
What makes news newsworthy? Why are some stories front page headlines and others given thirty seconds of airtime on TV? You’ll learn in English class or Media Studies that the news we hear on the radio, read about in the paper, or watch on television is broadcasted to us because it is timely (current), significant (affecting many people), proximate (nearby), prominent (famous), and/or evokes human interest. This is fair enough, but is it really fair that because of this, the majority of our support goes to some victims rather than others? Like in March, most of the North American population stopped what it was doing to acknowledge the 32 people killed in the Brussels attacks--flags were lowered, addresses were made, news channels were engulfed in the stories--but did not do this one week before for the 37 victims of a bombing in Ankara, Turkey. Or for the 1,378 civilians killed in Syria in the month of February.
Whatever the cause, it is necessary to focus also on the effect. Take a moment to think: what did you do for the 12 people killed in the Charlie Hebdo attacks? Did you send out a tweet of support? Did you take a moment of silence at school? How about for the 130 killed in Paris in November? Did you put the filter on your Facebook picture? Or look at the CN Tower and its blue, white, and red lights? Now think, what did you do for the 70 killed and over 300 injured in Pakistan? Or the 16 killed and more captured in Yemen? But what can we do if the news doesn’t get to us in the first place?
And these are not the only examples. Ask anyone to name a tragic and significant recent terrorist attack and you’ll likely get responses such as Paris or Brussels, and few people answering Lahore, Pakistan or Aden, Yemen. Why is this? Is it our tendency as Canadians to feel more empathy towards those who are more similar to us? Is it the media, who know they will get more responses to stories affecting more prominent countries? Or is it the fact that the less recognized countries are predominantly Muslim? And are these good enough reasons?
If the anchormen and women don’t give a story that much attention, its impact and emotion can easily get lost and ignored. As a result, citizens of Turkey, innocent victims of violence in Syria, and countless families who have lost loved ones in Pakistan lack the global support that those in more Westernized countries receive. Not only does this leave many feeling isolated and victimized, but it leaves us--Canadians, Americans, Europeans, etc.--with the idea that people who are different than us, by skin colour, religion, or citizenship, are less important, or even worse, enemies. By building this barrier between us and them, we contribute to the problem by refusing to stand in solidarity with others. Maybe the news won’t emphasize more “faraway” issues and tragedies, but victims of these still deserve our support and our empathy, no matter what country they’re in.