What a week. Not from a good perspective on the global front of course. It rarely is. It began with terror attacks in Iraq that claimed hundreds of victims, dead and wounded. It ended with the terror attack in Sharm A-Sheikh, Egypt, and the slaying of more than 80. In the middle were terror attacks in London, Kashmir and Israel, arrests of hundreds of Islamists in Pakistan and the warning from Italy and Holland that they fear they could be the next targets for terrorists.
Presenting a daily international news program becomes a nightmare scenario as one tries to juggle between these and other issues. Is Hurricane Emily as relevant to listeners as the terror attacks? What about the dozens killed in a coal mine in China? Millions could starve in Niger in central Africa – shouldn’t that get higher priority than a suicide bombing? What about the political reactions round the world to the bombings? Then of course there were the kidnappings in Iraq – does the newscast try to make some linkage between them and the bombings in London.
As journalists these are the questions we ask ourselves with each twist and turn of the working week. They are almost dehumanized issues. They can even mimic those annoying high-school questions: If a bomber can kill 30 people with 10 kilograms of explosives in Iraq and an earthquake hits Indonesia at the same time, is there enough space to fit in the Rice visit to Korea before the ad break?
But where is my conscience, and that of journalistic colleagues around the globe?
Can we afford to stop reporting, sit down and have a good cry about the sick world in which we live?
My guess is that many journalists do indeed take a break from time to time, over a coffee, perhaps at home just before bed, maybe even in the form of ugly nightmares and the disturbing thoughts racing through their minds upon waking.
However, most somehow manage to cut themselves off from what they are seeing or reporting. Witnessing the results of terror attacks is seized upon by the adrenalin-filled reporters as “a great story” rather than a moment for reflection, or a chance to help the rescue operation. And most journalists will defend their actions as “an important service to the public,” which it is. But is it a humane reaction? Are reporters too desensitized?
To be honest, I no longer know the answer to such a question, because I too have fallen prey to the same mentality. The journalists’ coping mechanisms are varied, but they often begin with the sick sense of humor, followed by drinking and smoking.
It’s a chicken and egg situation: Are the journalists feeding the public, or is the public demanding the gore?
Maybe another question is in order? Do the terrorists who create the news, ever stop, sit down and have a good cry about the sick world in which we live? Do they indeed take a break from time to time, over a coffee, perhaps at home just before bed, maybe even in the form of ugly nightmares and the disturbing thoughts racing through their minds upon waking?
Like I said, what a week.