I agree with your point. Much as I often criticise the media, though, they're taking advantage of the fact that people empathise more with what they understand (and also what they feel closest too).
For instance, six people a day are killed by crocodiles. The day is drawing to a close in Africa/Asia so let's say the six people have already died. Do you (whoever is reading this) care? Do you care six times as much as this headline: "Young American Woman Eaten By Crocodile While On Holiday"? Is that really six times *less* worthy of attention than the first statistic?
Sympathy is not just meted out based on nationality either. It's age, gender, and how attractive you are. I saw a headline years ago that said "Two Women Die In Terrorist Attack". In the third paragraph of the story, it said that seventeen men also died in the same attack.
Ironically, I think the news *wants* us to have an emotional response and so plays on that. A six-year old girl tugs more heartstrings than a man in his thirties. And maybe it's right we feel like that. Human instinct is to feel protective over a little girl. And the media's instinct is to play on that.
Is it normal to wonder why people care about only certain tragedies?
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I agree with your point. Much as I often criticise the media, though, they're taking advantage of the fact that people empathise more with what they understand (and also what they feel closest too).
For instance, six people a day are killed by crocodiles. The day is drawing to a close in Africa/Asia so let's say the six people have already died. Do you (whoever is reading this) care? Do you care six times as much as this headline: "Young American Woman Eaten By Crocodile While On Holiday"? Is that really six times *less* worthy of attention than the first statistic?
Sympathy is not just meted out based on nationality either. It's age, gender, and how attractive you are. I saw a headline years ago that said "Two Women Die In Terrorist Attack". In the third paragraph of the story, it said that seventeen men also died in the same attack.
Ironically, I think the news *wants* us to have an emotional response and so plays on that. A six-year old girl tugs more heartstrings than a man in his thirties. And maybe it's right we feel like that. Human instinct is to feel protective over a little girl. And the media's instinct is to play on that.