Selective reporting of news

Crises keep media alive. But certain geographical areas have been in limelight for far too long owing to turmoil

Crises keep the media alive. But certain geographical areas have been in the limelight for far too long owing to their instability and turmoil. Perennial flashpoints such as the Middle East have always been focused on by journalists due to the sheer amount of stories generated there and tragedies that take place. This in the end is what people want to know about.

Countries like Bolivia or Peru are unheard of in many parts of the world, but everyone seems to know all about what happens in Iraq or Russia. The killing of people in Iraq or Russia fuelling separatist movements will be a lot more interesting to learn about than issues in Peru. Owing to this, many key issues such as drug and human-trafficking rackets in some of the less-popular countries barely ever make it to the popular public discourse.

The incentive for the media is money. The more people read about the regions they want to read about, the more the agency earns. Similarly, the United States of America is not unheard of in any part of the world. It is the leading nation in terms of entertainment, technology and business. While stories from here reach the television screens and newspapers in, say, Bolivia or Laos, the stories of people in Laos or Bolivia will probably never be heard in the US.

The Middle East is the media’s favourite tragedy. Since long, this region has been the victim of foreign intervention or dictatorship. Marred by tragedies and brutal regimes, the communities inhabiting this flashpoint region have things to say which people want to know.

A major news channel such as the CNN would report of nationwide killings in countries such as Pakistan rather than give the new GDP report of a country such as Norway, or give ample prime time coverage to a rape incident on a college campus in a Latin American country. It seems that poor news-listening habits of the global population are tailoring the editorial policies.

A sad fact is, without tribulations and mayhem, the media world cannot function. And this turmoil is restricted to certain countries which are unfortunately in the middle of it.

Areas of conflict and war are what make readers and viewers thrilled. For weeks the news has been focusing on the issue in Gaza. Not just to show what is happening, but to intrigue the public on the issue as it is something of interest. When the killing stops, the issue will not be raised again.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2014.