France is receiving immense support from both countries and individuals all around the world following the terrorist attacks in several parts of Paris, on Friday the 13th of November. These attacks have claimed the lives of about 130 people and left hundreds more wounded. Sympathetic statements have been issued by world leaders and icons via media outlets and news channels, such as CNN, encouraging people to show support to the victims in as many ways as they can.
Equally, social media platforms, such as Facebook, have contributed to the display of support by providing people with innovative ways to show their concern and solidarity on their websites. Famous landmarks across the world were lit up in France’s national colours and various moving pictures of grieving groups and individuals have been uploaded on the internet since then.
Since Friday, Paris has been under constant news surveillance and coverage. The gravity of the attacks, which have been characterised as the worst to hit the country since World War Two, have resulted in displays of outrage and solidarity, even prompting world leaders to label the incident as an ‘attack on all of humanity’.
The statement above, as well as others, is sparking a series of controversial debates revolving around what appears to be preferential support and international media coverage for the country in the wake of the tragedy that it has suffered.
The bombing in Lebanon on the 12th of November and the violent situations in other Middle Eastern and African nations presently, have received centre stage in the arguments. Most debates have been questioning if France is worthy of such privileged treatment strictly based on its geographical location in the ‘west’. This is opposed to other countries that are equally and more frequently the targets of terrorist attacks but do not receive even half the magnitude of attention Paris has thus far.
Concerned individuals have accused the media of only catering to the western world when it comes to global reporting on acts of terrorism while pointing out the double standards employed in approaching the subject. According to commentators, the media shows selective grief and outrage, all of which are directed for the benefit of the ‘white world’.
Although media sources undoubtedly report a number of the terrorist attacks that occur in ‘non-western’ regions of the world, the methods they choose in doing so happen to deliberately retain the undertone of the reports being ‘just another news story‘. This is evident in the case of Beirut’s very recent brush with terror and how news outlets have been unable to reflect the same emotion in their reports on the Palestinian refugee camp bombings as they have for the Paris attacks.
This year alone, deadly terrorist attacks claiming thousands of lives have occurred in Nigeria, Syria, Kenya, Somalia, Cameroon, Palestine, and numerous other countries, but none of these countries are yet to receive 24-hour media coverage or updates, nor are they able to incite the level of global – or Western – solidarity and sympathy which France is currently receiving. The attacks in Paris should evoke emotions of sympathy and outrage, but so should those that took place, and still regularly occur, in other conflict-ridden parts of the world.
The media plays a strong role in determining what is newsworthy and what is not and by default, shapes the opinions of its audiences based on its content. Presently, terrorism is a core global story. By sheer numbers, the incident in France pales in comparison to cases in Africa and the Middle East, where these kinds of attacks happen too frequently. Perhaps the west is sending a strong message through the media that terrorism is truly horrific only when it concerns that region of the world. Otherwise it is regular, tragic news when it happens in other non-European places.
Terror is unacceptable in any form anywhere in the world, not just in Israel, Europe, or the United States of America. Unfortunately “global” media outlets are yet to pick up that story.
