24/7 News

In regards to “Live TV and Bloodless Death…,” I agree 24/7 news has distorted our sense of the conflict in the Middle East and other countries like in Africa.  Truly, it is about the ratings and how sensational a scoop can be reported. Thus, misinformation spreads like wildfire. For example, although it’s been a year since Osama Bin Laden’s death, there are still confusions surrounding how exactly he died because there either isn’t enough information, it’s been distorted, etc.

Furthermore, 24/7 news had made us numb to conflict because it is so frequent and lacks a sense of reality. You don’t see blood or actual dead bodies. If I could summarize the news broadcasts I’ve seen in the past year, you mostly see weaponry or bases where soldiers are stationed at. The fighting you do see is mostly of soldiers firing guns. If the broadcast agencies didn’t tell us where the fighting was happening, I wouldn’t be able to make out the difference. So, even I feel like very detached.

Also, I feel “worldwide” news isn’t really worldwide when it focuses on western interests in the whole wide world. The reading cites an example when the 5,000 Afghan civilians died in bomb raids during ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’ and 20,000 died as a result of indirect effects of the bombing. These numbers are shocking because you mostly only  hear about the number of soldiers who died fighting, which happens to be quite small in comparison to the number of civilians.

Finally, I definitely agree that 24/7 news fails to explain the economic and political context as to why there are conflicts in the Middle East. All these problems can be traced back to a century ago after the breakup of land under the Treaty of Versailles. And the problems just keep adding up. Every country has a past and because of it, they act a certain way. Furthermore, you have to understand that most Middle Eastern countries economic conditions. For example, there is not enough electricity in Pakistan for it to run 24/7. In fact, the light goes out 12 hours a day in cities and even more in villages.  Food prices have escalated so much and the government has been forced to shut down petroleum and gas pumps three days out of the week. Add war in to the mix and of course, the country is struggling. The problems are believed to stem from the America-backed Pakistani government, resulting in growing anti-American sentiment.

            In regards to “Conflict and Control…,” it was highly interesting to read about how reporters were going through the events of 9/11. But while it seemed like they were shocked at the attacks, it was very bizarre how it all became about getting the best coverage in the Middle East. It was like a game of how can get in to Afghanistan or Pakistan first, report live, and find the best spot to do it. Although the profession demands it, it just seems all about the ratings again. In addition, I found it interesting how Pakistan became the prime location to broadcast from. Because I saw the Marriot Hotel a month before it was bombed in September 2008.

Questions: 

- What do you think of Pakistan’s role in the Middle East? (militarily, media wise, etc)   

- Do you actually watch the news or read newspapers frequently or do you prefer to use social media websites to find out about current events?