The Virginia Tech Shootings - A View From The UK Part 1
Media Coverage - American lives more important than others?
I’m writing this on the 23rd of April, a week to the day of the Virginia Tech shootings, long enough since the incident for me to have a comprehensive and fair view on it, but with it still fresh in my mind. Like others around the world, I watched the news reports filter in of a shooting happening in America, and by mid afternoon, we all knew it had ended in a massacre. I was upset, with my heart and head going out to the victims and their families. And although that sympathy still holds true, some things have occurred since which have left me wondering about the whole saga, the way it’s been reported, and how even in this day and age, it seems we are not all born equal.
I bought a newspaper last Thursday, 3 full days after the shootings, and there on the front page was the sick, smiling face of the killer Seung-Hui Cho. And for the next five pages was more of the same, with photos of him as a kid, details of his life and opinions on his motives. Turn to page 17 however, and there was news of a car bomb in Iraq, in which 192 people died. So, are American lives more important than Iraqi lives? Does it matter more that 32 people died in a Western democracy than it does that nearly 200 did in a middle Eastern country? It shouldn’t do, at least to my mind, as isn’t every human life equal, with race, colour and creed not mattering a jot in the eyes of death? It seems when it comes to news reporting, and media organisations in the 21st century, that we are not all equal, with some people afforded a higher place in the food chain than others.
Online would be my haven from this unfairness and inequality, or so I thought, but no, as a few things have even happened in the blogosphere to remind me we are not all the same. There’s to be a One Day Blog Silence on April 30th for the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings. But hang on, apart from resenting being told when I should and shouldn’t blog, and when and how I should pay my respects, why is it this incident in particular which has prompted such a call for silence? As the organisers even admit on their site “Many bloggers have responded and asked about all the other victims of our world. All the people who die every day. What about them?” So at least I’m not alone in my thoughts. Try as they might in hindsight to make this about everyone who dies needlessly around the world every day, it still took the deaths of 32 US citizens to prompt this sort of memorial. Although I agree with remembering the victims of this terrible tragedy, I don’t feel this is the sort of memorial they either deserve or need.
The blog company I write for even got in on the act, posting a network wide tribute and details of how to contribute to the memorial fund. That’s fine, and I’m happy to have it on Pop Buzz UK, but surely, if that’s set a precedent, there should be a similar post every week with a fundraising effort for victims of wars around the world, victims of murder, illness and accidents. There’s just something not quite right about all this shared grief and forced collective effort for American citizens, when the same levels of respect are never granted to people from other countries. Is it because they are far away, and not on the Internet’s radar? Or is it just plain fair and square disparity between those born in a Western Democracy, and those born in other, poorer parts of the world.
I’ll say again, my complete sympathies are with the VTech victims, their familes, friends and loved ones, no disrespect is meant by my views. But news coverage of this terrible incident has been skewed, lazy and unfair in my opinion, and it does neither the victims or our sense of justice any good.
Part 2 will be posted tomorrow, in which I’ll discuss how elements of pop culture were unfairly blamed for this massacre, and whether this will have any impact on film, video game, and music makers in the future.
Virginia Tech, Virgina Tech Shootings, VTech, UK, Seung-Hui Cho, Iraq, One Day Blog Silence, America, Democracy
April 24th, 2007 at 10:12 am
Very interesting post and very true. I worried about that when the call for aid went out. My brain teems with other people who could use aid and who live in crisis zones in less prosperous countries. Yet it’s undeniable that the Virginia shootings were a tragedy and that everyone there needs our support. How do we get the balance right? How do we care for the rest of the world while not losing sight of people in the US who hurt?
April 24th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
You’re definitely not alone in these feelings, Dave. I strongly agree. Thanks for speaking up.
April 24th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Absolutely no disrespect meant, I agree. I don’t think any should be.
I think you have a point. It was only after I came to Australia that I heard about the massacre in Tasmania which lead to the gun laws they have in Australia today.
It’s only because the news channels here (for the most part) like to move on to the next bit of news that I heard about the deaths in Iraq.
No disrespect at all, but I just wish this kind of attention could be granted to all deaths due to war, hunger, poverty, etc. Maybe then people would feel more inclined to do something about it.
April 24th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
Well, the sad fact is that Americans tend not to care as much about tragedy in other parts of the world because of proximity. I’m sure if this exact same rampage happened in England, the English would be crazy about it and not care as much about suffering in other countries at the same time. I don’t think this is fair to point any kind of blame or anything at Americans for the way they feel. I’m sure that in any other nation, people will be more apt to grieve for people that they know (or have a closer relationship to or commonality with) than people they don’t know. There are probably a lot of other reasons for it, not the least of which is that I think a lot of American’s want to bury their heads in the sand and pretend there isn’t a war in Iraq going on.
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For your comment about having a memorial fund for everyone in the world… that kind of support for every single tragity isn’t feasible. And the fact that one of our own writers had someone who they were friends with die in this helps show why 451 might be more involved than they would for other deaths. Plus the company hasn’t been around long enough to support a lot of other causes, so time would tell if American’s are just racist jerks that don’t care about those around the world or not.
April 24th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Thanks for commenting Gillian, Emma and JM.
Paul, I never called Americans racist jerks, and would never generalise to that extent. I can understand ordinary Americans feeling more toward this tragedy than others around the world, but the media have no excuse. The newspaper coverage even here in the UK was terribly skewed toward this tragedy rather than another going on in a different part of the world.
I was using 451’s appeal and the one day blog silence as an example of the Internet’s bias toward America. I have complete and utter sympathy for our own writer’s friend, and all ohter victims of this crime, but still feel justified in putting across this side of the story.
April 24th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Another sad fact is that mass killing in other parts of the world are more common, no one is surpised when ANOTHER crazed suicide bomber blows up a bus or cafe in the middle east. That is the truly sad fact. For Americans the VT massacre was unexpected and not commonplace, it also hit closer to home. We, as Americans, have more access to the internet and communication that most individuals anywhere in the world, so when something happens this close to our world, we respond very vocally. It’s not that we feel more important or more special, it’s that re feel the need to express our shock and grief over the incident. If individuals in other countries had better access and fewer restrictions, we would probably hear more from them about the tragedies in thier lives, as they expressed their outrage and grief, but at the moment that is not the case.
April 24th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
Dave, I didn’t mean to put words in your mouth, but I hear a lot of anti-American stuff (especially on places like Netscape) that implies American’s don’t care about anyone else in the world for those reasons. I get testy some times when it comes to this topic. I just want people to know that there are many Americans that truly care about others around the world. I felt so bad for you guys with your bombings a while back and the Spanish train bombings, the horrible crap that goes on in Africa, the tsunami tragedy etc… etc…
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You have every right to express your views, and you make a good point.
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I think Keith hits the nail on the head on this one. It’s way more shocking that one guy can kill a bunch of students unexpectedly than it is for a bunch of people to get killed in a war zone where it happens (sadly) almost everyday.
April 24th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
I truely agree with you on this. And that may suprize you with me being an American. I often wonder when such tradies happen what prompts worldwide support and what doesn’t. Is it the fact that these were just kids that never got a chance to grow up? And that kind of acts of violence are unbeleivable to Americans. I wondered if the BLOG SPERE did the same for the victoms of 911, I don’t recall that happening. And what of the victoms of Iraq? are they less important then us? NO they are not its usless slaughter everyday is needless. I read this article and it made me think why aren’t people doing something for Iraq? Is it because for the last 2000 years they have been fighting over the same issues? And why are they fighting with each other? That is a war that will never end, even if America pulls out which I think it should.
I totally agree with DaveP that no human life is less important than any other human life. This just saddens me.
April 24th, 2007 at 11:07 pm
Most Americans only care about what affects them directly - look around. Reality television, suvs, pop-culture, and life-style obsession. There were over 150 people killed in Iraq the next day… not a word on my local news. Out of the comfort zone… there’s a reason the rest of the world can’t stand us.
April 24th, 2007 at 11:37 pm
Pettitworld, if the rest of the world (in which I live) couldn’t stand the US then we wouldn’t be reflecting US calls for aid above the needs from our own region. In an ideal world people would have sent out calls for aid for the Solomons (because of the tsunami) as well as calls for support for the people in Virginia. We focus on America almost as much as America focusses on itself. This wouldn’t be so bad if there weren’t people in need who weren’t getting aid. We need to think of ourselves as living in a bigger world and we need to stop playing blamegames. I do think that looking at pop culture is a good start - where our attitudes come from helps explain why we react the way we do: I’ll be following those posts.
April 25th, 2007 at 3:59 am
Dave, as an American I agree completely with what you’re saying. Whenever I hear some of my fellow Americans justify the war in Iraq by saying, “we’re saving American lives by taking the war against terror over there to fight on the terrorists’ home soil”, my immediate thought is “so you’re saying the lives of the innocent Iraqi citizens caught in the crossfire are worth less than the American lives that were supposedly ’saved’”? And it’s not just lives where many Americans think of themselves as superior. Many Americans seem to think of civil rights as something only American citizens are entitled to; foreigners on U.S. soil (legally or illegally) supposedly don’t have any rights.
At least there are a few of us who have a conscience; in the past week I’ve seen two or three newspaper editorial cartoons making the very same point Dave was making regarding coverage of the Virginia Tech massacre vs. the deaths of innocent Iraqis every day.
April 25th, 2007 at 4:48 am
I was just thinking the same thing. What do you expect American media to do, when their own president considers American lives to be more worthy than Iraqi lives. You should look up his reaction to the US troop death toll versus the Iraqi civilian death toll.
April 25th, 2007 at 9:40 am
HAAAAATERRRRRSSSSS!!!!! Don’t hate the players, hate the game!!!
April 25th, 2007 at 11:46 am
Obviously this has affected me deeply considering VT is my home and I lost a friend. I am sad whenever life is lost anywhere in the world. I think there is a distinct difference between lives lost in Iraq which is a war zone and here. I have been in combat myself in several countries. It’s sad to say, but bombings and mass killings are to be expected in a combat zone. It is not to be expected here on campus. That’s the real difference.
April 25th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
I lived in England for 2 years and quite often when people found out I was American they would start lashing out at me for what my country does or did.
Being American doesn’t make me responsible for what people in my country do. I do agree with Kezins in saying that killings in a war zone are much more expected than killings on a college campus.
I’m sure if there were a mass shooting at a place like Cambridge or another English campus that it’d be all over the news too. Remember when they blew up that subway in London? That was all over the news here. Remember when they bombed the train in Spain? That was all over the news here. Those things weren’t expected, but I felt they were reported with fairness.
April 26th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
In my mind it seems like we may be breeding a “terroririzable” country. Terrorists are aware that they can cause a major effect when they attack Americans.
When I watched all the media coverage of the tragedy. While I sympathize with those affected, I just sat there saying “this is too much!”. Too much attention, too much debate, too many “specialists” giving their analysis etc. I wonder if all that takes away from truly grieving for your loss on a personal level.