Live 8 Coverage

[gothwalk]

I do wonder at the way in which the US Supreme Court situation and some missing troops in Afghanistan are getting more coverage in the US media than either G8 or Live 8. The term "liberal media" that gets chucked around looks like more and more of a red herring.

Comments

[silja.livejournal.com]

I am not so sure that the US media is liberal either, but in this case, I can understand what they are doing: The new Supreme Court Justice will affect US law for decades; the troups are US troups. This, versus a pop concert and a summit which, while important, is very difficult to cover ina 2-5 minute news report.

[gothwalk.livejournal.com]

Nobody can do anything about the Supreme Court appointment; Bush will make it and that's that. There's nothing else to report. As for the troops missing... there are US troops missing and killed every day in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they don't cover it. I'd bet a fair bit that if UK troops went missing, the UK media wouldn't give it this kind of coverage.

The G8 summit could potentially make a difference to millions upon millions of people if they decide to dispose of the 3rd World Debts, millions and millions more if they change the trade barriers.

However, the American media become more isolated and inward-focussed all the time, so I suppose I shouldn't really be surprised. The trouble is that the US population thinks they're seeing world coverage.

[penexpers.livejournal.com]

Maybe because they realise what little difference it's going to make?

In the grand scheme of things, the leaders of the G8 are going to keep on doing what they do without paying much heed to much of what is going on today. Remember the millions of people all over the world that marched on the streets (they didn't go to no pop concert) against the war in Iraq, but that did little to convince any of the world leaders to change their stance. Slightly defeatist attitude I know, but I don't think anyone should kid themselves. For Africa to get out of poverty it's going to need some extremely fundamental changes in the way the world works and a few hundred thousand people going to a pop concert isn't going to achieve that change.

[gothwalk.livejournal.com]

I'm not expecting massive changes tomorrow from it. I do think that a few more people will think about the problems, and take a few more steps in the direction of doing something about them. It's happening to me; given the coverage the Beeb are giving it, I'd say it's happening to a lot more people. And that will make a difference.

[piratejenny.livejournal.com]

Oh, the media's not even close to liberal. I think the closest we have is The Daily Show. How sad is that?

But as someone stated above, the election of a new Supreme Court Justice is going to affect us very seriously. The last appointment was 11 years ago. And O'Connor, while conservative in a lot of ways, did tend to vote for individual rights. It's a little scary over here right now. Well, more than usual.

[goth-hobbit.livejournal.com]

As someone who lives in the US, I can confirm that the "liberal media" is a term coined by the neo-conservatives (who are anything but conservative in the traditional sense). Its misuse is the same as their misuse of the word "liberal" itself: in their lexicon, it means "anyone who disagrees." It is used against genuine conservatives, moderates, and actual liberals equally; and it is used to make the populace distrustful and edgy. With spectacular effect, I might add.

About 20 years ago, when the labels started being bandied about, nobody paid much attention. It was regarded as the rantings of a few extreme-right-wing cranks. Unfortunately, this attitude gave the faction time to build up their numbers into a very efficient political machine. If a reporter uncovers evidence of political wrong-doing, then the "liberal media" is attempting to confuse people and damage the country. If a politician calls for anything like a moderate foreign policy, then he is tarred with the "unpatriotic" brush, and subjected to every form of character assassination imaginable. The Republican party, which is where most of the neo-cons place their allegiance, is frighteningly good at keeping its members in lock-step. The few Democrats who have dared to speak out with anything like force are shouted down by their fellows who still think that gentlemanly behavior will have any effect against such ruthlessness. Two decades, and the term "liberal" has been turned into the equivalent of a swear word. My fear is that it may take just as long, if not longer, to undo the damage that has been done.

Having grown up in the shadow of the Cold War, I find it ironic that I go to the Pravda homepage on a regular basis for news. (I've always gone to the BBC and other news sites in the UK.)