Media conundrum re hurricanes and other things

"I suppose that media report re what seems to be the interest of the listeners or viewers. And the listeners and viewers are interested, to some extent, given x amount of attention to give, to what the media present. "

That's the key, Osso -- the media report on what its target audience is interested in. And, sadly, most of that audience doesn't give a tinker's damn about the local populace. What they want to know is, are American tourists safe. Is Aunt Hetty, who just flew down to Cozumel to celebrate her successful gall bladder operation, okay?

Gee, you are both so right!

The world is overburdened with problems. What makes the news - news?

Round the world in 80 seconds - Fox. Yes, 80 seconds. Is that enough time for:


Pakistan earthquake death toll reaches 79,000.
Three million homeless.

Ever seen the headlines:

Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) is by far the most lethal form of malnutrition/hunger and the one referred to when world hunger is referred to. Approximately 850 million people worldwide are malnourished.

Children are the most visible victims of malnutrition. Malnutrition plays a role in at least half of the 10.9 million child deaths each year--five million deaths. These young children are prematurely?- and needlessly?- lost.
(Not far short of a million child deaths a MONTH)

Conflict as a cause of hunger and poverty. Worldwide, there were some 17.1 million refugees and displaced persons at the end of 2003.

Micronutrients Quite a few trace elements or micronutrients--vitamins and minerals--are important for health. Three--perhaps the most important in terms of current health consequences for poor people in developing countries--are:

Vitamin A- Vitamin A deficiency can cause night blindness and reduces the body's resistance to disease. In children Vitamin A deficiency can also cause growth retardation. Between 100 and 140 million children are vitamin A deficient. An estimated 250 000 to 500 000 vitamin A-deficient children become blind every year, half of them dying within 12 months of losing their sight.

Iron- Iron deficiency is a principal cause of anemia. Two billion people?-over 30 percent of the world's population?-are anemic, mainly due to iron deficiency.

Iodine- Iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) jeopardize children's mental health- often their very lives. Serious iodine deficiency during pregnancy may result in stillbirths, abortions and congenital abnormalities such as cretinism, a grave, irreversible form of mental retardation that affects people living in iodine-deficient areas of Africa and Asia. IDD also causes mental impairment that lowers intellectual prowess at home, at school, and at work. IDD affects over 740 million people, 13 percent of the world's population. Fifty million people have some degree of mental impairment caused by ID

Source: (World Health Organization).

Unless it affects readers/listeners/viewers/advertisers - it don't count as news.

Osso -- I linked to one news source that spoke of 50 Mexican construction workers who were holed up in a place until the storm passed by. The report said there was not enough room for them to lie down and they were surviving on donated canned tunafish which they were eating with their hands.

Sad stuff going on all over the world. There is such a disconnect with us (not just in the USA) who wring our hands... then get into our cars and drive to the store because we've only got two bottles of red wine and the XX's are coming over.

I don't know what we do about it though.