I suppose the Mumbai attacks deserve a mention. Frankly I was hoping talk of them would die down before being hyped up. It’s the last thing we need in a world already full of animosity and fear of terrorism.
This morning, on CNN, a couple is being interviewed about their experience on the scene. The wife says: “I saw a dark-skinned man holding a backpack and I thought, he looks like a suicide bomber”. The stupidity of mankind!
I don’t know what’s worse – the fact that she’s allowed to voice her prejudice of dark-skinned Asians with backpacks or the fact that she’ll feel justified in thinking so and that the “dark-skinned Asian” in this case actually was a terrorist, albeit not a suicide bomber, both of them helping fuel the prejudice view that plagues Asians in the UK carrying backpacks, most usually containing their babies’ diapers or university textbooks.
Meanwhile we are once again reminded that one life has more value than another. As the death toll of the Mumbai attacks hovers around 200 on its fifth day of constant media coverage on all the international news channels, what do I see scrolling quickly by as a quick news-strip? “300 bodies at mosque in riots in Nigeria”
Then again, I guess there were no Western tourists in that Nigerian mosque…
4 comments:
Piquant, Maya. And to answer your question, 'Whose Life is it, any?' it is the life of the rich and powerful which matters. All else is dispensable.
Terrible but true. What are the lives of Nigerians worth compared to that of American and Brits?
Jack nothing, obviously.
Am I surprised? No.
What do expect from the western media anyway?
They are out to protect their own interest. Western media cares about western lives and property. Many more non-westerners would have to die or perish, to deserve their attention.
Such is life.
I agree Oluniyi, really what should annoy me is the fact that it is Western news (and priorities) we most often follow. The time that we focus on our own well-being and development is long overdue. Nigeria is well on its way in the banking and commercial sector but today it was made clear to me that we also need our own media outlet.
If Aljazeera has made it on to the global scene, what's stopping an African media house from doing the same?
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