Double standards. Is there anything more infuriating than when you’re on the receiving end? One rule for you, another for me? When it happens to ourselves we’re in uproar, but we see it ALL the time and yet respond so apathetically. If even at all.
I’ve known for a long time not to trust print media. Never trust anything you read in a newspaper. Especially the sport section.. I remember reading as a kid that Liverpool were set to sign Rivaldo. Done deal, he’s going to be a Liverpool player tomorrow. Now me, a huuuuge football fan even at that age, was ecstatic. Did we sign the Brazilian legend? Of course not. Heart broken. Gutted. Print media has always been that way for me, growing up in Merseyside, you quickly learn there are certain papers less trusted than others. Some that you would be extremely frowned upon for buying. (JFT96!) Print media is gossip and rumour driven, it’s a competition to sell the best(or worst) stories, not the most accurate facts. But anyway, that’s that.
For the large part the main stream televised media in England, or at least the BBC is fairly even. They report MOST, major global and national stories. They don’t lean too far left, nor too far right politically. Maybe there’s some bias on certain issues, but it’s rarely to the point that it is blatantly unfair. Still, l I don’t trust everything they say. I don’t think anyone should. Don’t take what you hear anywhere as gospel, do your own research, think for yourself. Question everything. Everyone has an opinion, every story can be twisted. History is written from the stance of the victorious. Everything is perspective.
I write about this now for 2 reasons:
The first is the American Presidential Election. I’m more invested in this than any Brit who has no direct connection to America should be. I find it much more interesting than my own country’s political election, unfortunately. Not because of the circus show that is Donald Trump, I won’t waste the energy to even type out my thoughts on him, but because of Bernie Sanders. In my eyes he’s the only candidate worth voting for and I can’t fathom why he is not ahead in the primaries by a landslide. Well, I can from the perspective of a billionaire but for the aver- Stop Flynn. This post isn’t about your political stance. ANYWAY. The point I was originally trying to make, before flying the liberal socialist flag, was that the way the media is covering this election is diabolical, it just falls short of cheating. The idea that a national NEWS station can ram its own political agenda down peoples throats infuriates me. You’re showing one side of a story which will unfold and shape a nation over the course of 4 years. That just isn’t right. To purposefully portray someone for what they aren’t, or worse yet, to not portray them at all. To act like what they’re doing isn’t even happening? Or isn’t relevant? Is despicable. You’re showing a 2 man race, but only focusing on one participant. It’s easy to paint the picture that they’re worlds apart when one is displayed so openly yet the other is left by the wayside.
The second, and main, reason I’m writing about this is the situation in Belgium. But not only the people of Belgium, but the people in Istanbul and Ankara who have been an afterthought of the media. These types of situations are becoming all the more common, it feels like only a few weeks ago I was writing about Paris, and only weeks earlier about “Je suis Charlie.” We are all aware of what happened in Brussels, yet little fuss was made about the 36 who died in Ankara nor the 5 in Istanbul. That’s now been swept under the rug, a thing of the past. Why? Do we value those who died in Turkey less than those in Belgium or France? Is it because it’s “Not so close to home”? I didn’t see the Brandenburg gate lit up as a Turkish flag. Nous ne sommes pas Turquie. Why? Because Turkey boarders those middle-Eastern countries we prefer not to speak about? It’s close to those places that have been fighting for years.. It’s “Normal.” No. I refuse to go with that. I didn’t see one single Facebook status about ANY of the recent events in Turkey. Istanbul is not dissimilar from Brussels, it’s a bustling city with culture and history. It’s people want to live a good, safe, civilised life just like those in Brussels. It’s not this distant, far away, almost alien land it’s made out to be. Most importantly, they didn’t deserve the recent attacks. Yet the media portray that one is more threatening or serious than the other, that those lives lost marginally closer to home were more important. By devaluing the situation in Turkey the media is inherently placing an arbitrary value on human life, based on nothing more than location and culture. When in reality they’re no different. None of it is fair – How little empathy was/is shown to the people of Turkey, nor that people were unfortunately caught up in the twisted ideologies of others. Innocent people lost their lives. They should all be treated as such.
People.
Flynn
Let's go on an adventure. 