‘Our White Man’s Media again on display in London terrorist attack‘, Pearls and Irritations, 27 March 2017
I have often commented that a person from Mars reading or listening to our media would conclude that Australia is an island parked off London or New York. We saw that last week in the coverage of the London terrorist attack. We continue to cling to the coat tails of the London and New York media.
Where is the sense of balance or proportion? The data shows that less than 3% of deaths from terrorism occur in Western countries like the UK, the US or Australia … Our media continues to exaggerate the extent of the terrorist problem in Western countries like the UK, the US and Australia. But it is always graphic and easy news, particularly when a camera is around …
Our media turns itself inside out over the London terrorist attacks but shows little interest in addressing the basic and fundamental issue of the factors which have driven international terrorism and deaths of millions of people since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. (On this, see Menadue’s earlier post.)
Adding to the points made in this piece is the relative (by comparison) lack of reporting of events in Mosul last week (wb 20 March) when there were multiple (perhaps 100) deaths associated with a coalition air strike, which triggered an explosion in an ISIS truck carrying weapons. On this, see CNN and the Washington Post (in a newsletter summarising recent articles). ‘If confirmed’, the Post said, ‘the March 17 incident would mark the greatest loss of civilian life since the United States began strikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria in 2014’. There is speculation that the Trump administration is to step up bombing in the Middle East.
John Menadue is one of Honest History’s distinguished supporters. He recently provided an endorsement for The Honest History Book.
