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Originally Posted by Date the Banana
Why exactly is that?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the NYT is a newspaper. Like it or not, people down south are dying; corpses are floating down the river like rubber duckies. Is this a good thing? Hell no! But people should read the newspaper to become better informed about the world, not for a quick pick-me-up in the morning. I for one would be pissed off if my newspaper showed a cute picture of a cat stuck in a tree during the flooding. Don't like to be reminded that the world can be a cold, mean place? fine, but don't read current events and expect them to be sanitized to reflect your world view.
If you want to only see good news, that's fine. Read a newspaper geared for children. I want to see the reality of the world, and while that picture was chilling it woke me up to the reality of the situation. That's what journalism is for.
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It's people's choice to veiw what they want. The NYT is a newspaper, but it's a for profit enterprise. I long ago got past the notion of an independant, informative newspaper. To me, the only difference between the NYT and the Weekly World News is that I can get one at a checkout lane in a grocery store. With that in mind, if they want people to keep buying their product, they need to cater to what their customers want. If it's pictures of kittens while there's a hurricane, fine. It's noot about sanitizing things, it's about printing what your customers want to see. By your reasoning, every cancer story should also be printed with a picture of a cancer patient in their last days, correct? Or a car accident should have decapitation pics, since it will show the "reality of the situation" better?
Me personally, I understand what is happening without having to see a floating body. It doesn't make it more real, just more gratuitous and exploitive. If you are half as in touch with reality as you like to think (this is a general you, not pointing fingers), it shouldn't take a photo taken by someone gunning for a pulitzer to make you understand what is happening.
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Originally Posted by analog
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Originally Posted by alansmithee
I really don't understand the "reality check" mentality. This isn't reality for many people. Actually, it's not reality for MOST people. Some might find it disturbing, and there's nothing wrong with that. People need to get off their high horses about how "real" and in touch they are because they don't mind seeing a dead body.
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1. This is reality for about 15,000 to 20,000 people definitely still trapped within the city. That's a very large number of people to turn your back on and say, "this doesn't effect EVERYONE". Thousands more have nothing to come back to, have lost family, friends, everything.
2. I don't think anyone in here has had any kind of "I'm better than ______" attitude with regard to "being able to see dead bodies". Those who are calling this reality are simply saying that some people need thicker skin. I don't think anyone is using this disaster as an opportunity to brag. Many, however, are using it to affirm to everyone else in the world just how little a person can care about devastating loss of human life and the total destruction of a city.
If there's any bragging going on in here, it's that some of us give two shits about the world around us, and aren't so self-centered that they think of no one but themselves. |
And I say why do people need thicker skin? There's no obligation to care about anyone else. If it's so important, people can ride their high horses down to NO and start helping. And leave those who have no care or interest to their business. Not everyone can even afford to be so worried about everything else in the world, they have lives themselves that they worry about. And why is it you only hear about this indifference during some tragedy? Before the hurricane, how many people died from starvation around the world without any uprorar whatsoever? Where was all this caring and compassion then? It's not about being self-centered, it's about taking a long-term view of the world. You say 20,000 is alot of people, I say it's a drop in the bucket. And that's the reality of the situation, not some pic of a dead body.
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Originally Posted by analog
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Originally Posted by alansmithee
People have no obligation to familiarize themselves with the world's problems, and if they don't want to be reminded of them, it's perfectly fine.
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That's the single-most insensitive comment i've read in a long time. Your tune would be the total opposite if you or your family lived in New Orleans right now, wondering where the red cross is... you know, with FOOD, or even WATER. This kind of attitude only carries a person until they're the one whose everyday life has been destroyed, and decended into hell. |
Umm...wrong. Why would my tune change? Why should someone else care just because it's my family? For one, I hope I would have had the good sense to evacuate the area. And if I was stupid enough to stay, I wouldn't be bemoaning the failure of the world to shut down and save my dumb ass. Seriously, you make alot of baseless assumptions. I have had hardships, as have many of those in my family, and many of my friends. I didn't expect (and don't expect) any exceptional aid or compassion from the world. And again, why is it the person in NO who should get the sympathy for lacking food? What about the kid in LA who doesn't have a place to live because his mother chose crack over rent and food. Or someone in Pittsburg who is slowly being bankrupted paying medical bills for his wife because she got cancer? Or the 300,000,000 other tragedies that occur in the country yearly? Or for that matter, the 7,000,000,000 worldwide? Honestly, i'd take a million missing white woman of the week stories over this sanctimonious, gratutious, self-righteous crap any day. At least those didn't try to be anything but fluff. I'll maybe start worrying about people caring more when everyone can look beyond the current headline-grabbing situation toward the daily, hourly tragedies that happen constantly all over the world. Now excuse me, I have something far more important to do now, which is prepare for my fantasy football league draft.