OPINION & EDITORIAL
U.S. media places higher value on Americans’ lives than foreigners’
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by Rob Rossmeissl
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
If you were to make a list ranking the value of human life according to nationality, what would your top 10 countries be?
Regardless of this question's apparent absurdity, nobody who views the American media as legitimate has a right to reject it.
As you read this text, rescue workers are desperately working in San Juan De Sabinas, Mexico, attempting to save the lives of 65 coal miners trapped by a gas explosion. Although it has gained brief mention in most American news outlets, overall coverage in the United States of this tragedy has been severely lacking.
Judging by recent history, it would seem coalmine accidents have come to command the national spotlight. Earlier this year, a West Virginia mine accident that killed 12 dominated newspapers and network news. Why, then, is the current disaster — one that could bring 65 casualties — going largely unnoticed in the American media?
Unfortunately, the following question must be begged: Are the lives of Americans worth more than the lives of non-Americans? The media certainly seems to think so.
Consider the major world issues that have been slighted by the American news establishment in recent years. According to the United Human Rights council, Bosnian genocide in the early 1990s killed 200,000 people, and Rwandan genocide during the same period took the lives of 800,000. The U.S. State Department estimates that up to 181,000 people have been killed since the inception of Sudan's ongoing slaughter. American news coverage of these atrocities has been appallingly slight at best and criminal at worst.
Now, look at topics the U.S. media have deemed worthy of attention lately. The disappearance of a single American, Natalee Holloway, monopolized cable and network news coverage for months. Before that, the Scott Peterson fiasco was front-page news for nearly a year. Even further back, the media swarmed when Elizabeth Smart vanished.
With no disrespect intended, maybe I was simply unaware that Laci Peterson, Natalee Holloway and Elizabeth Smart were the greatest Americans of our generation. If not, however, it's pretty sad how much media attention their respective cases received.
The U.S. media's discrepancy between American lives and non-American lives might not be more obvious than in coverage regarding the continuing conflict in Iraq. Usually, the American media take one of two routes in covering the war's death toll: list American and Iraqi deaths separately or list only American deaths.
Ironically, coverage of this quagmire might be indicative of how it began. It's easy to understand how Americans were able to disregard the ramifications of their country's actions on another people, considering the American media portrayed said people as less valuable than U.S. citizens. If the American media valued lives abroad as it does those in the U.S., perhaps Americans would reconsider some of their country's decisions.
The absolutely ridiculous concept of one nation's populace being worth more than that of another has long been accepted among the U.S. media establishment, but it's doubtful many people can understand why.
Are Americans better people than Greeks? Are we smarter than the Chinese? Are we stronger than Russians? These questions would be hilarious if they could not be asked legitimately. Unfortunately, they can.
I find it hard to believe that a Texan living closer to Mexico than West Virginia could explain why his local newspaper offers less coverage of the present coalmine tragedy than the one in January. Maybe crossing the invisible line that is the Mexican border automatically lowers the value of one's life by 75 percent.
People in the United States have the power to save lives around the world, but they cannot be expected to do so if their news coverage continues to disregard the value of said lives. The American news media is as responsible for deaths abroad as anybody.
Rob Rossmeissl (rrossmeissl@badgerherald.com) is a junior majoring in journalism and political science.
Anonymous (February 22, 2006 @ 6:26am):
No Natalee,Laci ,and Elizabeth are no more important than anyone else except to their loved ones ,that is .And there lies the key as to why they got the coverage they did and still do.Because their parents wouldn,t lay down and rol over and drown their sorrow in tears . They had the strength to say giving uo is not acceptable and the y continued to push for the justice they deserve...I say good for them ...more people should have that attitude. bw
Anonymous (February 22, 2006 @ 10:54am):
no, Natalie, Laci, and Elizabeth got more airtime because they were pretty rich white girls, and would draw more ratings than, i dunno, troops dying in Iraq and Afghanistan. There have been more minority girls, and younger ones at that, who have been kidnapped, and who never received a full minute of airtime from Fox News or MSNBC.
Anonymous (February 22, 2006 @ 11:03am):
I honestly find most student paper opinion pieces rather poorly written and ill-informed, but I think this was one of the best I've seen in 6 years on this campus (I'm in grad school, not a slacker). That is a really well doen article.
Anonymous (February 22, 2006 @ 11:29am):
'The American news media is as responsible for deaths abroad as anybody.'
What does this mean??
Anonymous (February 22, 2006 @ 1:26pm):
um, it's not importance of life. it's relevance to our lives. this piece is a joke. and the grad school loser is turning into an elitist who will make 150k, but cry out for the little guy.
i couldn't care much less about miners in mexico...or the usa for that matter. maybe we should fill our newpapers pages with every car accident and premature death around the world.
Anonymous (February 22, 2006 @ 2:22pm):
if you think this is solely an American issue, it is time for you to live abroad. This past year in Chile, the coverage I viewed about hurricane Katrine focused on one Chilean woman who had lived through it. Perhaps a few sentences about the overall situation were mentioned to give this heroic woman's survival more weight, but otherwise it was all about la chilena. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be an American issue, but rather a human issue (unless it is an American and Chilean issue...would would be really random).
Anonymous (February 22, 2006 @ 5:00pm):
Was this really written by a college educated student??? Hoe does the lack of media coverage of an incident in mexico have any relation to the value of human life. Lets be honest, as much as you "journalists" hate to admit it, you are still in a business, i.e, selling papers, getting viewers..... With no papers sold or viewers watching you have no job. Luckily, smarter people than you make these decisions. And guess what, hearing about an American tradegy sells more than hearing about a foreign one. It has nothing to do with the value of human life. Get a life Rob.
Anonymous (February 22, 2006 @ 6:03pm):
I call BS - the US media didn't show the vidios of the US citizens getting their heads sawed off. They hardly showed all the people jumping to their death from the towers to avoid being burned alive.
Anonymous (February 22, 2006 @ 7:33pm):
"I call BS - the US media didn't show the vidios of the US citizens getting their heads sawed off. They hardly showed all the people jumping to their death from the towers to avoid being burned alive."
The US media also didn't show the Iraqi children burned to death during carpet bombing and white phosphorus runs.
Anonymous (February 22, 2006 @ 8:01pm):
"unless it is an American and Chilean issue...would would be really random"
i'm not sure if i entirely agree with your argument about it not being a mostly american thing, but bravo for the funniest line i have read on the msg board in quite a while!
Anonymous (February 23, 2006 @ 10:41am):
1. US
2. Japan
3. United Kingdom
4. Canada
5. Australia
6. France
7. Holland
8. Sweden
9. Isreal
10. Italy
Anonymous (February 23, 2006 @ 11:16am):
Do you just sit around every week wondering how to waste your readers' time? Apart from your lack of grammatical sense (it is "raise the question" not "beg the question") your topic choices often make me want to cut myself.
Maybe next week pick something that isn't so depressing it makes readers want to kill themselves ... you know, like some positive ... unless that word isn't part of your vocabulary
Anonymous (February 23, 2006 @ 1:13pm):
Sorry, but you have all missed the point. Big media, whether it is US or Chinese or whatever is nothing more than a a tool owned and operated by the "military - industrial complex under the guidance and control of the New World Order Global Elitists. It is a propaganda spin machined desisigned to entice and control. Real issues like 1st and 2nd amendment rights, toll road tracking contol and command systems, fraudulent electronic voting machines, obscene corporate profits at the expense of workers and citizens everywhere and the massive curruption that has taken over the US government are either completely ignored or spun like the web of a spider on steroids!
Anonymous (February 24, 2006 @ 8:18pm):
"The American news media is as responsible for deaths abroad as anybody." What an absolute stupid remark!! As for Natalee, I follow everything about her. Her mother keeps her in the news. Natalee was treated terrible in Aruba, taken advantage of and all the people there lie like Joran and the brothers. One brother stated "American girls are sluts".
