Sunday, December 26, 2004

CNN to Asians: "Over 10,000 of your friends and family are dead, but the big story is that Nate Berkus is a-okay."


Dear CNN.com:
Regarding these recent headlines:

• U.S. begins tsunami relief; 3 Americans among dead

• 'Oprah' regular survives tsunami devastation

Are the lives lost in the earthquake and tsunami in Asia worth so little that the only ones that seem count are the three America's dead?

Is CNN.com so sucked into the world of celebrity they need to devote space to a minor celebrity that simply survives the flooding and earthquakes? Have you become so fluff-centric that a 300 word story about him makes the upper right corner of your news page?

I understand the desire to customize and personalize the news to draw people in, but your use of these two groups (Americans and celebrities) to draw people into this international disaster story simply trivializes this tragedy. By trying to make this about Americans and celebrities, you have yet again done a disservice to the intelligence and of level of compassion of your readers. Unfortunately this has become the norm for CNN.com and not an exception.

4 Comments:

ellroon said...

You put your finger right on it. I used to watch CNN when Turner ran it, but now it is just a pile of steaming crap.

For a wonderful spin, see Hubris' take: http://hubris.typepad.com/hubris/

1:47 PM  
spocko said...

Thank's for the link ellroon. I sometimes wrote satire like that, but it was hard to be outragous enough to distinguish from 'real' stories.

I hope you had a great Christmas and weren't anywhere near this disaster.

1:53 PM  
Anonymous said...

I tried to leave a comment, and you wouldn't let me. I think this website is garbage. You ask for a comment to be left and then won't allow it...........................................bollocks

8:21 AM  
Anonymous said...

I response to your "10,000 dead but the big story is that Nate Berkus is okay". I don't believe that the genuine media reported the tragedy in this way at all. Many of us know Nate from the Oprah show. Putting a face on the tragedy helped bring it home to many people and is more than likely the reason why so many people put their hands in their pockets and donated generously. It's nice to see "celebrities" use their celebrity for good!!!!!!!!!!!

8:24 AM  

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