Disproportionate coverage of Paris attacks is not just the media’s fault
In this cross-posting from The Conversation Folker Hanusch argues audiences must share the blame with journalists for disproportionate coverage of events like the terrorist attacks in Paris.
The horrendous terrorist attacks in Paris and the resulting blanket media coverage have once again raised questions about the proportionality of news coverage when it comes to reporting deadly events.
The argument goes that the Paris attacks are unfairly given more coverage than similar events in other places around the world – such as last Thursday’s bombings in Beirut, which killed 44 people, or the shooting of 147 people at a university in Kenya in April, to name just two examples.
And as large numbers of Facebook users apply a French flag filter to their profile pictures, others are questioning why it did not offer Syrian flags to show solidarity with the victims of terrorist attacks in that country.
Blaming the general public for poor coverage is a poor excuse for lazy journalism. If you want the stories to be read you need to write them. If you think that because a readership drops due to certain metrics, then you need to inform the public that it is important to provide a balanced view of world, national and local news stories. Stories should not be about statistics. It should be about informing the populace of what is happening in the world we live in. And the internet has no limit when it gets to content.
Maybe if journalists spent more time on story research and less time on metrics and empirical evidence, people might be better informed and pay more attention to those stories that presently don’t get the readership they should.
Too many opinion pieces and not enough reporting. Your not there to become a star in your own right by choosing only those stories that will look good. Your duty is to report fairly and honestly on all events no matter how unimportant you may deem it to be.
Readers cant be informed if the content is not there.
Apologies for my grammar error in last paragraph.
I totally agree. Terrible events like this see the lazy, and want-a-be journos rushing for the world stage in the hope of winning an award for their poor interpretation of the story. I see the real winners here to be the cowards they persist in calling terrorist!
Thanks Simon. Agreed, people are busy, the world of news is massive-we need journalists who have that world perspective to help us navigate and understand the issues, and tell the stories of all people.