For those of you who haven’t heard about this, Indonesia is currently crushing a rebellion in the NW tip of Sumatra. There are reports of mass graves, slaughter of civilians, etc.
This is a big story on the BBC. Hardly a day goes by that you don’t hear about the horrific situation there. But when I checked CNN.com, I saw nothing on the front page. Then I went to the “World News” section, and found nothing. Then I want to the Asia news subsection of World News, and still found nothing. The last time I picked up a NYT, I saw an article on Aceh, but it was buried pretty deep, IIRC.
Why is this such a big story in Britain, but nary a ripple in the U.S.?
There is an assumption on the part of US media, (and I hasten to add not on the part of American citizens in general) that if a story does NOT directly involve Americans, it’s not gonna be an important enough story (ratings wise) to bump those stories which DO involve Americans.
OK, this in itself is fair enough - after all, every country on the planet behaves the same way. It’s only human nature after all that we show more interest in our people than those of a foreign land.
But there’s a down side to it though… unfortunately, US media currently holds an inordinate degree of influence on the world stage… which, by extension means that many people around the globe get their daily news stories massively influenced by the lead which is shown by US media houses. Accordingly, in many parts of the world, a story which involves an American often will get air time or print time over a more compelling story which doesn’t involve an American - and I have to say that this causes quite a bit of jealous resentment to be honest.
I mean, it’s not the fault of your typical American citizen if his country’s media outlets give that citizen’s fate a greater priority on the world stage - but the resentment is there - inarguably.
Well, first of all Exxon Mobil does have a large presence in Aceh which the Indonesian military provides security for. If anything I do feel that there should be more coverage here in the US.
There may be a couple of reasons that the coverage isn’t as great as when E. Timor was gaining independence. Aceh has not been recognized as an independent entity by the UN and there is, at least at this time, majority support from the non-Acehnese population throughout Indonesia to keep it as part of Indonesia.
Although the Indonesian military conduct in the region has been brutal (especially during Suharto regime), the rebels (GAM) haven’t been winning any favor from the local population either as they have been accused of thuggery and atrocities as well.
Except they sort of are. The British were a former colonial power in the area and two of Indonesia’s closest neighbors are Australia and Malaysia, two commonwealth members.
I think it’s safe to say that the British have much more of an interest there than Americans, even if they aren’t involved directly.
The British ruled Java and part of Sumatra temporarily from 1811 to 1815. The whole of Indonesia was Dutch for more than a century before and after.
Since you’re talking about being “in the area” - the US was a former colonial power in the Philippines. I’d say this is as big a reason for relevance as in your statement.
Good thing there’s no civil war going on in Africa, either. I mean, if millions of people have been - and continue to be - slaughtered, I’d hear about it in the news … right ?
I was talking about Malaysia, you know, that country right next to Indonesia and even shares some islands with it? That area they controlled until World War II. Sorry I wasn’t clear.
And Malaysia and Australia are more “in the area” than the Philippines, although not by much.
British involvement in the area has been going on much longer and more directly than official US involvement.
I’m aware, but you’re missing my point. Due to the Commonwealth and a very long and involved colonial history in the region, the British media is far more likely to pay attention to what is going there (yes, I know Indonesia isn’t a part of the Commonwealth and was ruled by the Dutch) as it is much more likely to directly affect British economic and political organizations.
Contrast it with the United States, where we don’t have a long history in the area and no major economic or political organizations in the area (any more than any other region), so it’s more likely to hit the back pages, if anywhere.
Well, I see what you’re trying to say, *Neurotik, and I’ll give you Sumatra, but I still don’t buy your argument. The “area” is huge. It’s more like “region” or “sub-continent”. It’s kind of like saying “the US media reports on events in Kiribati because the US been in control of Hawaii for so long, and that’s in the area” (which I doubt happens). Anyway, this explanation doesn’t cover why the Irish media are reporting it too.
Do the people in Aceh have dark or at least sort-of-dark skin? If so, Americans don’t care if they get slaughtered. Plus, we need to know everything about Laci Peterson and her fetus, and that doesn’t leave much time to cover inconsequential froth such as poor people dying in far away lands.
Well, I don’t think Indonesia and Kiribati are quite in the same league.
I was merely pointing out that your assertion that “there aren’t any UK players involved,” while technically true is not quite that simple as Commonwealth members (who I would include as semi-UK players) are much more involved than players that are typically involved with the US (Japan, Mexico, Canada, etc.). So to imply that the UK is equally as uninvolved as the US, politically and socially, is not very accurate.
I would agree that it is not the only reason, nor even the main one. There are plenty of others. Just wanted to clarify that point.
smiling bandit: not sure what you mean, but my comment was quite clearly sarcastic…although a study of recent american news coverage implies that the media does think this way. I don’t think it’s right.
I know the answer to the beginning question: Because the American People as a whole(I know, I’m American) care only about the superficial and lots of blood spilling action. I think that the song “Terrible” by the Insane Clown Posse pretty much sums it up: that American’s focus on the irrelevant.
It gets annoying really. I don’t wanna turn on the national news and watch about some celebrity or nobody who did something that has no national impact.
Psychopachik Vampire
