The Collegiate Laws of Life Essay Contest asked Penn State students to explore ethical values and intercultural issues, and their talent for expressing their views in writing.
Katherine Cioffi, ’19, Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar, Biological Anthropology, won Honorable Mention for her essay, below, responding to this prompt:
On November 13, 2015, there were terrorist attacks in both Beirut and Paris of similar magnitude, but they had very dissimilar media coverage. What are the ethics of reporting death and tragedy in the media?
Tragedy and the Media
Two cities, with nearly 2,000 miles between them, faced similar disasters merely a day apart. In November 2015, ISIS militants led brutal, organized attacks on both Paris and Beirut, killing scores of innocent civilians. The cities were left to mourn their terrible losses, but with one key difference—Paris had the backing of countless nations, all standing in solidarity after what was, as President Obama declared, “an attack on all of humanity” (Reilly). The Lebanese capital, however, was met with relative silence. While broadcasting stations, newspapers, and Internet sites were giving nearly constant updates on the Paris terrorist attacks throughout the following days, very little commentary was devoted to Beirut. The disparity between the coverage of the two events highlights an interesting, but rarely addressed, matter in the media— namely, in the way they choose to report tragedies.
As businesses, American news outlets are largely concerned with what will garner views and receive attention. So, in many ways the consumer can determine what is covered, depending on their interests. Current events will receive more coverage based on if the public deems them relevant—typically those involving a similar Western or otherwise “economically powerful” nation (Harvey). These tendencies culminate into what is described as the “Western media bias,” which is reflected in what the mass media decides to publish and broadcast. A prominent example lies in the lack of coverage of the “African World War” that occurred in the 1990s in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a highly populous country that is largely unfamiliar to Westerners (Harvey). The series of wars led to the death of over five million people, but was greatly overlooked by American media, and thus virtually unknown to the public. Despite the similar level of violence in the recent Paris and Beirut terrorist attacks, the media preferred to cover the former more frequently due to this inherent propensity to focus on Western nations.
In addition to determining what to cover, the Western media bias also plays a large role in how different events and tragedies are reported. The ISIS attacks in Beirut were not only covered far less comprehensively than those in Paris, but were also reported in a markedly different tone. While the coverage of Paris was extensive and continuous, and clearly displayed sympathy after the tremendous loss, the mainstream media recounted the situation in Beirut with much less sensitivity. This difference could be caused by the psychological tendency of humans to create an “in-group” with similar individuals— in this case, the Parisians— and empathize strongly with them (Atkin). Since Americans perceive the Western nation of France as being a safe country with strong ties to our own, the tragedy came as more of a shock than what occurred in Lebanon, and thus many felt it to be more deserving of our attention.
As a result of this tendency, the media greatly humanized the Parisian victims. News outlets even released tributes for some of the individuals, including an American, while Lebanon was not met with these expressions of grief. The city’s 43 victims were not recognized; the world was not sent into mourning. The ISIS bombings in Beirut, actually, did not seem to faze the Western media, which already viewed Lebanon as unsafe. Reports frequently noted that the area in Beirut where bombs exploded, killing innocent civilians, was a “Hezbollah stronghold.” As members of an active Shiite militia resided there, the media used this as an explanation for why it was targeted by a rival terrorist Sunni group (Miller). This represents a troubling trend in regards to how the American media can often misrepresent violence in politically unstable nations, particularly in the Middle East. Oftentimes, these events are not properly acknowledged because the media sees violence as expected in these countries. This selective dismissal, however, can also be seen within the United States— a drive-by shooting in a neighborhood in Detroit, for example, is much less likely to receive news coverage than a similar instance in a middle-class, suburban area.
There are some undeniable inconsistencies and prejudices in the way the media reports events. Comedian Jon Stewart often examines this phenomenon, and once summarized “the bias of the mainstream media is towards sensationalism, conflict, and laziness.” With certain topics, especially those involving tragedy, releasing respectful and accurate coverage can be difficult— which is why this bias runs so rampant. Nonetheless, there are people who actively strive against this style of reporting described by Stewart. The Society of Professional Journalists, a group active for over a century, stresses the importance of “ethical journalism” that includes the “free exchange of information that is accurate, fair and thorough” (“Society”). If the news following the devastating attacks in Paris and Beirut can teach us anything, it is the importance of embracing a more comprehensive, careful form of media as we move towards an increasingly globalized society.
Works Cited
Atkin, Emily, and Beenish Ahmed. “Experts Explain Why People Cared More About The Paris Attacks Than Beirut.” Think Progress. N.p., 17 Nov. 2015. Web. 09 Jan. 2016.
Harvey, Nick. “Why Do Some Conflicts Get More Media Coverage Than others?” New Internationalist. N.p., Sept. 2012. Web. 09 Jan. 2016.
Miller, Anna Lekas. “Not Just Paris: Why Is Beirut’s Brutal Terrorist Attack Being Ignored?” Rolling Stone. N.p., 15 Nov. 2015. Web. 09 Jan. 2016.
Reilly, Mollie. “Obama: Paris Attacks Are ‘Attack On All Of Humanity'” Huffington Post. N.p., 13 Nov. 2015. Web. 9 Jan. 2016.
“Society of Professional Journalists.” SPJ Code of Ethics. N.p., 6 Sept. 2014. Web. 09 Jan. 2016.
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