“I’ve had enough of the Japanese earthquake news. Can we switch to another channel now?” The thought just left me aghast. Can I be as stoic? When was the last time I shed tears over similar devastating news? Memories of 9/11 gushed in very quickly. Then there’s Hurricane Katrina, then Haiti.
Hurricane Katrina and Haiti’s earthquake hit much closer to home, and The World Trade Center tragedy happened right in my work neighborhood. Does the disaster in Japan seem more remote because it’s halfway across the world? Maybe the early videos taken from the air or at a distance, described to be of “Steven Spielberg proportions” by one reporter, brings it away further from us.
The news will then start focusing on the people, the faces of the survivors and the bodies of the dead retrieved from the rubble. Here’s where Hurricane Katrina, the Haiti earthquake and 9/11 really hit hard for me: the mourning of the dead, the anguished pleas for help and relief, and the over-long search in desperate hope to find the missing.
Have you shed some tears yet? There’s no need for tears, really, but here’s HOW YOU CAN HELP.
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Viewers of “train wreck” TV programming can’t get their eyes off all the car chases, vacation accidents, people getting run over or falling, and more people getting hurt. Most of the violence shown appears to be self-inflicted and often brought about by sheer stupidity. Still, my blood curdles thinking how tragedy can be commercialized to such extent. I’m wondering which advertisers invest on such shows? How much do each shell out for, say, a 30-second spot?