Media Thought Experiment (3)

I want you to ask yourself a few questions: What was the last major move by the Islamic State? When was the last case of the ebola virus within United States borders contracted? How many west African citizens have been killed by the ebola virus? These questions are probably quite difficult to answer, are they not? Now I want you to think about the last time you watched the news, and answer me this: Who won the election, Bishop or Zeldin? Astorino or Cuomo? Easier?

Think even harder about the last time you watched the news. Was IS mentioned? Perhaps briefly, correct? An update on the current state of the issue? What about ebola? Perhaps a quick snippet saying that there were no new cases in Nigeria, that the last few cases in the U.S. haven't spread, or something along those lines. Then the news immediately flashes some eye-catching graphic with a title like "ELECTION 2014" and proceeded to discuss the upcoming election for half an hour or so. They discussed recent polls, the candidates' positions on major issues (without discussing the issues in depth), perhaps some candidates' scandals, attacks on opponents, candidates defending their points, etc. Now flip the channels and see if you can find anything different. NBC, CNN, FOX, ABC, I bet you can't find an American news network that isn't wasting valuable broadcasting time discussing elections, trying fruitlessly to sway the voters' concrete positions on their political standings. Now take a look outside U.S. news. Glance over at BBC, Al Jazeera, or your favorite foreign news source. Did you hear about the car attack in Jerusalem? The attack in Donetsk, Ukraine that killed two teenagers? Here's an interesting piece you probably haven't seen about ISIL fighters in Kobane torturing Kurdish children for six months by forcing them to watch beheadings and beating them with cables.

Has our vision been clouded? Is there more out there that the media doesn't want to show us? Why haven't we heard about these things? Are we being kept stupid? Why is it that every time there is a major crisis in the world, we like to worry about it for a while before we simply forget that it exists and continue on with our daily lives, before something more interesting comes along to distract us? It's because we are not the ones living in Syria, or Lebanon, or Sierra Leone, or Ukraine. We are not affected by what happens in the world, and most people are just more concerned with their own issues. People don't want to hear about ISIL anymore, it upsets them. They don't want to hear about ebola, they're afraid of it. If the news only showed these things, who would watch? Nobody wants to turn on the news to be depressed. It's a rating game; keep the people entertained and they will watch.

Do yourself a favor and stay informed, you won't regret it. Perhaps something like ISIL appearing seemingly out of nowhere won't surprise you like it did this time.