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R13...

R13...

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So the other day there was this rant on facebook about how the media covers 'dead bodies'. The rant said that when people in the third world die in disasters/hunger/terror attacks/etc the western media is quick to flight gruesome images of the dead.

It is easier to find images of dead people on mainstream tv if the dead are from the third world. According to the ranter anyway. Now that I think about it the ranter is right. However in the recent earth quake & subsequent tsunami in Japan, there weren't images of the dead all over tv (not the dstv news channels anyway). There weren't so many images of dead people on tv after 9/11...

Why is this so?
 
I heard a rumour that the Japanese censored the pics beforehand because they dislike showing dead bodies in their culture (you would assume in any culture).
Not sure how that works in practise though especially with live images.
 
R13... said:
So the other day there was this rant on facebook about how the media covers 'dead bodies'. The rant said that when people in the third world die in disasters/hunger/terror attacks/etc the western media is quick to flight gruesome images of the dead.

It is easier to find images of dead people on mainstream tv if the dead are from the third world. According to the ranter anyway. Now that I think about it the ranter is right. However in the recent earth quake & subsequent tsunami in Japan, there weren't images of the dead all over tv (not the dstv news channels anyway). There weren't so many images of dead people on tv after 9/11...

Why is this so?
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Who can forget the images of skulls and bones from the Rwandan genocide. I heard they discovered more than a thousand dead bodies that had washed ashore in Japan. But as you say there were no images. Interesting.
 
Third World countries always require major assistance after a natural disaster or disease outbreak and most of the donation money and food comes from the 1st world countries.

So showing the most gruesome images on TV tugs at peoples heart strings more?
 
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Garyvdh said:
I heard a rumour that the Japanese censored the pics beforehand because they dislike showing dead bodies in their culture (you would assume in any culture).
Not sure how that works in practise though especially with live images.
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Interesting, but Japan is a very conservative country I suppose that makes sense. What about say 9/11? I know that most of these networks have different broadcast schedules at 'home' & abroad.

I think after Katrina some dead people where shown? Not too sure. But then we know all about that.

HumanoidTyphoon said:
Never seen any pics of that.
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They'll probably be shown at some point even this year. They're broadcast in documentaries all the time. Bloated bodies floating in streams...
 
Hemps said:
Third World countries always require major assistance after a natural disaster or disease outbreak and most of the donation money and food comes from the 1st world countries.

So showing the most gruesome images on TV tugs at peoples heart strings more.
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Yea, I agree. When they need money, they use shock tactics and emotional blackmail to get it. Who can forget the picture of the little black kid with the swollen tummy and flies all over his face. Or should I say pictures.
That's a favourite.
 
Not only that but developed countries are much better organised when it comes to quick removal of the dead. Most members of the public in a developed country, will promptly cover a dead body and immediately notify the authorities. That seldom happen in a third world country. Different mentality to begin with. In Somalia the vultures are feeding on the dead. Nature has its ways of staying clean. Sad but true.
 
Hemps said:
Third World countries always require major assistance after a natural disaster or disease outbreak and most of the donation money and food comes from the 1st world countries.

So showing the most gruesome images on TV tugs at peoples heart strings more.
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Isn't the fact that censoring such images is difficult for a 3rd world country as the 1st world literally takes over the scene (in exchange for aid maybe)?
I saw one report on a British NGO that went to Japan to assist but could not get to the disaster areas as they were barred by authorities.
 
Good point actually, Boston's Big Picture hasn't had one censored image in all their Japan quake coverage yet the Libyan battle photos have about 4.
 
BlackBox said:
Not only that but developed countries are much better organised when it comes to quick removal of the dead. Most members of the public in a developed country, will promptly cover a dead body and immediately notify the authorities. That seldom happen in a third world country. Different mentality to begin with. In Somalia the vultures are feeding on the dead. Nature has its ways of staying clean. Sad but true.
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Difference is everyone is too busy trying to survive. In Haiti, the locals were quite quick to help clear up dead bodies, but CNN was right there 'embedded' with the makeshift undertakers.
 
R13... said:
On Al Jazeera no doubt.
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CNN I think. Never seen Al Jazeera, I don't think Al Jazeera existed when I had a tv.

CNN also showed people jumping out the building to their deaths on 9/11. Was disgusting.

If they showed more, I can only assume nationalism would rise in the west. I can see why those in charge would rather not show the bodies of westerners to western audiences, because they have bet everything on multi culturalism, which is not compatible with nationalism.
 
I think it often comes down to the nature of the disaster/catastrophe. With 9/11 we didn't really see many dead bodies per se. On the other hand we saw many people die on live tv that day, either by jumping to their deaths or when the planes impacted. The aftermath of 9/11 was essentially mountains of rubble. Whether or not dead bodies would have been immediately apparent I'm not sure but the whole event was shocking either way.

Regarding something like the live aerial images of the tsunami, who really knows how many bodies we were looking at being swept along in that muck? No specific close-ups or anything that I recall but the scale of it all was so large that I doubt they were looking for finer details at that stage. As for aftermath images - can't really say as most I've seen are large scale and not with too much focus on the personal stuff.

Then again, if we consider something like a drought (which all too often affects the poorer countries), what else is there to show but the effect on the environment? Death. And death comes slow in this sort of disaster so it's bound to be a focal point.

I do think though that the heartstrings factor is something to take into consideration and for that matter any propaganda.
 
Flanders said:
I think it often comes down to the nature of the disaster/catastrophe. With 9/11 we didn't really see many dead bodies per se. On the other hand we saw many people die on live tv that day, either by jumping to their deaths or when the planes impacted. The aftermath of 9/11 was essentially mountains of rubble. Whether or not dead bodies would have been immediately apparent I'm not sure but the whole event was shocking either way.

Regarding something like the live aerial images of the tsunami, who really knows how many bodies we were looking at being swept along in that muck? No specific close-ups or anything that I recall but the scale of it all was so large that I doubt they were looking for finer details at that stage. As for aftermath images - can't really say as most I've seen are large scale and not with too much focus on the personal stuff.

Then again, if we consider something like a drought (which all too often affects the poorer countries), what else is there to show but the effect on the environment? Death. And death comes slow in this sort of disaster so it's bound to be a focal point.

I do think though that the heartstrings factor is something to take into consideration and for that matter any propaganda.
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Don't forget the last big tsunami in 2004...Indonesia etc. Pictures of corpses were on the front page of national local papers. And I am talking detailed pictures. Third world countries just have less controll on what is shown world wide...the Japanese will never lose face that way...
 
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