Selective Media Coverage of Disastrous Events

*notice I stated disastrous events instead of saying disasters

The media are notoriously known for picking and choosing what the general public gets news on; and that happens to work because after all, the media do control the information being released. Behind the media stand the politicians that control the information given to the public. But why does this matter?

As a Western invention, the media control the actions and reactions of the people watching. Politics play a major role in the selection of media coverage because exposing an event negatively can influence a nation so much as to even starting a revolution in support of another movement.

The events below were portrayed by Western media as being "the beginning of the end of oppression" and the "expansion of democracy" -- a word almost all passionate Westerners like to hear on the international news.

The anti-government protests in Egypt's Tahrir Square touched the hearts of many Westerners that clearly stood in solidarity with those fighting oppression.

As happened with the anti-oppression protests in Venezuela.

Just as they did in Hong Kong as well.

But when it comes down to anti-oppression protests happening here in the United States, suddenly the media become anti-protesting activists and conclude that all those who protest are savage. 

Baltimore Protests

During the past couple of days, protests in the city of Baltimore over the death of African American Freddie Gray, aged 25, have escalated. There has been, along with many peaceful protests, much rioting and looting over stores and businesses, to the point where a week-long city wide curfew has been declared, and the national guard have been called in by the governor of Maryland Larry Hogan.

These protests represents an ongoing social disaster in America, one that has been going on for many decades. Police brutality and suspected institutionalized racism, is but one aspect of the greater societal problem of social inequality in the US. With the protests for Freddie Gray being simply the latest chapter in an ever longer book on police brutality and suspected racial bias, it is becoming increasingly prevalent and arguable that the police organizations of this country need reformation not only in their procedures in tactics towards all individuals, but towards the implicit biases they subconsciously hold for African-Americans.

However, this approach is failing to address the issue at large, and that is why these biases are held. Indeed, African-Americans are often portrayed in the media committing crime and looting, and this gives an unfavorable, unrepresentative perception of African Americans as a whole. However according to multiple statistics released by the department of Justice, African Americans are disproportionately committing more crime per capita than other races, with murder being eight times as likely to be committed by an African-American than a Caucasian. The reasons for these disproportionate statistics is not racial, but economic. Per capita, Black individuals are far more likely to be born in a family that is working at or below the poverty line than their white counterparts. In areas where there are far less job opportunities, lower quality in public education, higher exposure to criminal activity, and where income does not allow for higher education, crime and poverty will continually persist.
Why is it that per capita, Blacks are more likely to be socioeconomically lower and be more inclined to commit crime? For this we turn to the legacy of race relations in the US. Black people in this country have been, from Slavery to sharecropping to segregation, been continually pushed down into the lower classes as they were denied opportunities based on race. Today, African Americans face the aftermath of this more overt, institutionalized bigotry. Because blacks faced this discrimination, they were forced into low income housing in low income neighborhoods, where crime then began to flourish. The same phenomenon can be witnessed with the Aboriginals in Australia, or the Roma in Europe.
To tackle this larger disaster of socioeconomic inequality will in effect change everything. If there were initiatives on the part of the government to address the issue of poverty, in granting greater scholarships to lower income students, in diverting an equal amount of resources in public education to lower income neighborhoods as there were to higher income, there would be a marked improvement in crime rates. This would affect public and police perception of African Americans. These educational social reformations, coupled with police reformation with the installation of body cameras, would help to cure the social disaster of poverty, crime, and racial bias in this country.

On the Historical and Cultural Ramifications of Nepal's Earthquake

As you all by now have most probably heard, on April 25th last Saturday, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the nation of Nepal, claiming over 5,000 lives. Much of the country is devastated by the aftermath, and while rescue efforts are being conducted and foreign aid is beginning to trickle in, the local Nepalese authorities are not prepared logistically or financially for such an event and they are currently, in the words of Nepalese prime minister Sushil Koirala, "overwhelmed."
While this in itself more than warrants the labelling of disaster, there is another factor to consider: the cultural and historical damage. Many of Nepal's historical buildings and architecture, most of which are hundreds of years old, lie now in rubble.

Kathmandu's Durbar square, home to many historically significant religious sites. The square itself is one of 7 UNESCO world heritage sites in Nepal, and was built between the 12th and 18th centuries. The image above shows the significant damage inflicted by the earthquake, with one tower being completely leveled to the ground. 

Another historical landmark, the Dharahara tower, which boasted panoramic views of Kathmandu, was also reduced to rubble by the earthquake. The original tower was built in 1832, but was severely damaged in an earthquake in 1834 before being completely destroyed 100 years later in 1934, after which it was rebuilt.

The destruction of these buildings in itself warrants a disaster. Much like the desecration of ancient sites in Iraq and Syria at the hands of ISIS, the damage done to the historical and cultural memory of mankind cannot be undone. Many of these historic sites were one of a kind in their style and construction, and their destruction exacts a toll on everyone, in such a way that is completely different but arguably equally as bad as the human casualty count. 

Pending* Disaster in Yemen (Re-published Blog)

“With combatants fighting in neighborhoods and Saudi-led coalition warplanes pounding Iran-backed rebels from the sky, Yemen's war is wreaking a particularly bloody toll among civilian.” According to the United Nations, in the past month, there have been more than 550 civilian casualties in the clashes between Saudi Arabian military coalitions and Yemeni Houthi militias.

Amnesty International raises concerns about Saudi Arabia’s compliance with international law, saying that they have failed to take precautions to prevent civilian deaths. Saudi Arabia claimed that they intended on lessening the number of bombings against the Iranian-backed Houthi coalition that are loyal to Yemen's former president. Despite this, Riyadh pounded targets with at least 30 airstrikes within the Thursday and Friday of last week. Many Western countries that have been backing the Saudi’s aerial campaign have indicated their concern for the humanitarian crisis on the ground and about the risk of certain terrorist groups taking advantage of the situation. The fighting is making it very difficult for aid workers to deliver provide any medical or humanitarian aid to Yemeni civilians. To make matters worse, ISIS which initially has had little presence in Yemen released a video pledging to attack the Yemeni Houthis, who are from the Shi’ite sect of Islam (while ISIS is a sunni extremist group).

The situation in Yemen has gone past the point of “a ticking time bomb.” At this point the sheer clashes between the Saudi military and Houthi militia groups have wreaked immense havoc on Yemen. Many refugees have been fleeing or attempting to flee the country furthering the immense refugee crises that have been manifesting in the Middle Eastern region. The large civilian death toll paired with the limited humanitarian assistance is disastrous, since the civilians within Yemen are at great risk for death and the hazard that are the Houthi militia and Saudi military forces. With ISIS on its way to inflame the situation, the fighting in Yemen is on its way to become a huge disaster.

Sources:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/04/24/uk-yemen-security-idUKKBN0NF1I320150424
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/115-children-killed-start-saudi-led-yemen-offensive-30552494

Nepal's Disaster

On Saturday the 25th of April, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Nepal and caused damage throughout the region affecting Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and China as well. Over 4,000 people have been confirmed dead and an even higher death toll is expected.

Nepal is a small country of 27.8 million and relies mainly on tourism for its economy. The government is asking foreign governments for medicines, tents, and specialized medical teams. Currently 90% of the Nepalese Military is out in search and rescue operations. Many governments have already sent teams and more are expected. Nepal is being very active and is willing to risk a lose of perceived sovereignty in exchange for increased trust by it's people for providing a more effective response to the disaster,

The disaster did not strike Nepal unexpectedly, for being a mountainous region, earthquakes are not uncommon; however, the Nepalese infrastructure was not ready enough to take the natural event. This left Nepal quite vulnerable. The capital managed to hold together very well with only the historic districts suffering heavy damage; however, those living outside the major cities of Nepal suffered the collapse of, by sum accounts, around 70-80% of their towns infrastructure. I am sure that after this disaster the modernization and upgrading of infrastructure will become a major focus for the government. If this is done, the vulnerability of the country as a whole to natural disasters will drastically decrease for earthquakes are the most likely disaster the country faces.

As stated earlier, Nepal suffers earthquakes relatively frequently and this means that it's hazard for disaster is very high! The combination of old un-upgraded infrastructure and the high frequency of earthquakes made this disaster one that was very likely to happen sooner or later.

Alongside the damage done to towns and cities in the area, the earthquake cause an avalanche on Mount Everest which killed at least 18. The avalanche has cause a massive displacement of snow and increases the chances of avalanches happening in the future. Payment for climbing Mount Everest accounts for 3-4% of Nepal's GDP. For a country which relies heavily on tourism, the fact that the earthquake has also make Mount Everest less safe may take a toll on their economy for years to come.

Violence Escalates in Libya

The head of UNSMIL, Bernardino Leon, recently decried the April 20 bombing of the Spanish embassy in Tripoli, the latest in a wave of ongoing terror and conflict in Libya. The attack claimed no lives but the outer wall of the embassy sustained considerable structural damage. Mr. Leon called for a movement towards peace and towards stronger security controls in the country.

This most recent attack, along with prior attacks such as the 2012 attacks against the U.S. embassy in Benghazi which claimed four American lives, constitutes a great political and humanitarian disaster on multiple levels. The most recent outbreak of violence in Libya was initiated in May 2014 by rebel leader and parliamentary loyalist Gen. Khalifa Haftar, against Nouri Abusahmain's General National Congress, but since then many militant Islamist organizations have taken stakes in the fighting and made significant territorial and power gains in Libya. ISIL currently lays claim to Derna and Sirte and the surrounding oil refineries as part of their Libyan province. Over 3,000 have died since the beginning of the conflict as a result of the fighting, and many more have been displaced or kidnapped. The infighting has also rendered Libya's borders extremely porous, which has contributed to the growing refugee issue in the Mediterranean. Because the current conflict is far more intractable than the former, manageability of this disaster is low. Peace and stability must be achieved before the conflict spreads and spirals out of control; Libya is within long-range artillery of parts of Italy and missile range of all of continental Europe. A favorable outcome to the civil war is needed.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=50654#.VUJ0lSHBzGc

The Power of Media in Disasters

We've learned that when disasters strike a major factor in the relief process is the amount of human compassion that is generated to provide aid. The more that the media is able to push our emotional buttons the greater the chance we will be compelled to donate. An equally large component in the global awareness and relief effort is the power of social media. The question arises, which is better social media or television? I don't think one is better than the other because as long as the disaster is being broadcast across the world why does it matter the medium?

In 2010, the earthquake in Haiti devastated the already impoverished country to its core. The social media world exploded with blogs and twitter updates of the crisis. There were Facebook pages created for donations and to help reunite survivors and tweets from Twitter that allowed you to donate directly from posted links. Although social media played a large role it was the regular media that had the largest impact on the relief. Celebrities came together for George Clooney's 24 hour telethon that had performances on live tv. The telethon raised 57 million dollars not including private donors and large company donations. The news was constantly broadcasting footage of the earthquake so in the case of Haiti it seems like the media played a larger role than social media. 

In the case of Hurricane Sandy though it was the exact opposite. The government relied heavily on social media in order to communicate with those affected and the relief response groups. Twitter and Facebook were used to organize relief groups and direct resources where they were needed especially in New York. Citizens were checking updates on their twitter feeds etc and picking and choosing their news rather than turning on the television and waiting to hear what they wanted. 

Which is the more effective means of communication when it comes to disaster, the television or social media? I think that they both are effective in their own respects because they both are spreading awareness as to what is occurring. They both have the power to make a change and inspire us to donate. It's possible though that the television can provide more of an emotional connection due to the able to display more photos with headlines while social media you can only see what you search for. 

Sources: 

http://inventorspot.com/articles/haiti_power_social_media_37166

http://www.emergencymgmt.com/disaster/Sandy-Social-Media-Use-in-Disasters.html