I just read this report in the ANU Reporter on the Democratic Republic of Congo.... Its the first time I've ever heard anything about it and its one of the greatest human tragedies in the world today. Why is this stuff not reported? Why is Palestine / Israel so important, with 10 mintues out of 30 every night and a tragedy with 100 times more deaths doesn't get a bleep? Do we just not care about Africa? Why do we care about some places and not others?
Christian missionaries have been going into the Congo to do aid work (principally running hospitals) for decades, and they haven't stopped for the civil war, which is an escalation of violence that has been endemic for years. Unfortunately, Christians are routinely persecuted and tortured in the Congo by some groups, so numbers remaining have fallen since war broke out. And that leaves the Congo in need of even more aid workers and doctors.
A student of journalism once told me that we get to see about ten percent of what might me called "news" from all over the world. Another example that comes to my mind: circa four years ago there was a major flood catastrophe in Mosambique. There was a lot of media interest, and the country received help (and that's good, of course). In exactly the same year, there was a flood catastrophe in Bangladesh that killed ten times as many people than the one in Mosambique and went almost unnoticed by the western media. Similar thing (I seem to be stuck with floods, but those are the examples I had in mind, sorry...): Its not a tragedy of the same degree (?) as in the examples quoted so far in this thread, but in Rumania, 30 of 41 provinces of the country are fighting a flood that made 13 000-15 000 people homeless, killed and just doesn't seem to stop. This is going on since April (!). You hardly hear about it, even if its a going-to-be-EU country, while the flood in Eastern Germany was a very public thing throughout the neigbour countries, as far as I remember.
Probably because we're closer to the western world (we're in fact a part of it). That and the French.
Ahh but if you come back they 'shall taunt you a second time" whahaho... And I realise what that looses without the accent, but its my favourite Roman: Why do the French hate the Israelis? Forgive my ignorance I am a mere 20,000km away and so not such a pressing issue in historical terms. Edit to add Roman cos I realised he might not know I'm asking him something
Well, it all started when De-Galle decided to rebuild the French goverment in his image... It's been going downhill ever since.
Why he want to do something silly like that? I mean the French government blows up ships in foreign harbours, kills foreign visiting royalty and generally amkes the rest of the worlds life miserable by Trade Marking the word Champagne... Actually I see your point. Only if you let me spit in your general direction.
The reason Palestine/israel got so much media coverage is that for the first time since 1947 things are moving without anyone getting blown up. As for Africa? Google Delta of Niger+Oil Companies+Human Rights and be depressed.
hat's really annoying is that it takes so bloody long for deals to be done. Take the G8, we had to wait months for that to happen, any god politicians who cared about the world would do it straight away, sit round a table and discuss what needed doing. But not, everything has to be planned ages aeons in advance.
