Cyclone in Burma and the Media

While I was aware that a Cyclone had struck in Burma, it was not until this evening that I discovered the scale of the disaster that has struck that benighted country. Today (although this will be posted on Tuesday) has been a bank holiday here in the UK, so I did not hear the radio or the TV news until late.

While news is difficult to extract from Burma at the best of times, and no doubt this has been exacerbated by the physical damage caused by the cyclone, I would have thought that with a disaster that results in ten thousand people being killed would have merited more prominent coverage.

However, as it has been a bank holiday, I didn't go out into the countryside as I know from experience that it is likely be crowded with people and I would stand little chance of seeing much. Therefore, I had a relaxed day listening to some of the podcasts I down load, reading and writing. This is where I have a difficulty with the way the story of the Cyclone was covered, as several times I logged on to the web and the news feeds from my ISP were full of crap about “celebrity” and that bunch of people that are only famous for being famous.

Now I know that Burma is a long way away and obviously the fact that some unknown celebrity wannabe has had a boob job was far more important!

That is no exaggeration, following seeing the story on Burma on the TV, my ISP was still leading with four nonsense celebrity stories. I had to search out real news for myself. However, this just one example, and possibly the most serious, of the way that the media are abdicating their responsibility to report the news.

While the TV news from the BBC is quite good and comprehensive, I have see to much of the celebrity non story appearing in the news. Most of the other TV channels news is far to tabloid and low brow. The print media here is a complete waste of time. The tabloids have lost all pretence that they cover real news, and while the broadsheets are still readable to a point, there is nothing like the real investigative journalism that the press used to excel at. Additionally they spend far to much space to reporting football. How can any game that a dog can be taught to play be worth all those acres of news print?

While this may seem like a tirade, good quality journalism via the media is important. Its rather appropriate that it should be a media report about Burma, a repressive and secretive regime, should have prompted this posting. As good journalism helps shine a light on the dark corners that governments and businesses would rather remain obscured. Further, we need good quality journalism helps increase understanding about what is happening in the world.

Part of the reason why we have so much going wrong in the world is that the media is failing to scrutinise events properly. The concentration upon celebrity distracts people from discovering what is really happening.