Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Death Toll by Nationality

15 replies

zazizoma · 27/02/2011 15:14

Does anyone else feel that death tolls by nationality are creepy, and perhaps even in bad taste?

Now I know that I'm often off in my own corner with fits, but in reviewing several international news sites daily I've noticed that each is counting up their "own" in the NZ earthquake. Is this statistic supposed to make us more compassionate, or more able to relate to the tragedy? I find it very weird and unsettling, this concern over which passport.

OP posts:
worraliberty · 27/02/2011 15:16

I don't think it's creepy or in bad taste, it's just a statistic.

Chil1234 · 27/02/2011 15:29

YABU... that's the way tragedies are always reported because, like it or not, news becomes more personal, more relevant (and sells more papers) when it affects those closest to us. Out of the millions whose lives are at risk in Libya right now, we're probably most directly concerned about the few hundred British that are stranded there. Human nature

BTW... best example of localism was the headline run on 15th April 1912 in the Aberdeen Journal. "Aberdeenshire Man Drowned At Sea".... he was on the Titanic.

megapixels · 27/02/2011 15:33

No it's not creepy or in bad taste. People do often wonder if any of their countrymen have been affected in a tragedy far away. Doesn't mean that they aren't bothered about the others. It's just some information that people might or might not be interested in.

MsFaithless · 27/02/2011 16:00

YANBU

It's a bit sick really. Nationality is an accident of birth so why should one life matter more than another in a disaster death toll?

It was the same with the New Zealand mining disaster, once it was established that two of the miners were British then it became an issue and politicians couldn't wait to get their faces on tv talking about it.

That said if there are a number of people missing and the purpose is to publicise helplines and the like then it totally makes sense.

HecateQueenOfWitches · 27/02/2011 16:04

I wonder if it's because of the way news is.

There's global news
national news
local news

So a disaster abroad is global news, but if a brit is involved, it's also national news?

Or maybe they think brits will care more if it's a fellow brit?

If that's actually true, it's horrible, but maybe it is true to enough people to make it true (iyswim) or at least they think it is? that a brit dying is more important?

BaroqueAroundTheClock · 27/02/2011 16:07

It think it's global, national, local - it's national news if a Brit is involved. It's not just here it happens though - happens all over the world. It becomes a "national" interest - for want of a better description

Chil1234 · 27/02/2011 16:13

It's the age-old dilemma between what is a 'tragedy' and what is a 'story'. As editors try to work out what's interesting and what's merely sad the decision-making process might look cold-hearted or commercially-driven, even. People are dying all the time in all kinds of places and circumstances. Choosing which one gets the headline is what separates a good news organisation from a bad one. A local connection makes an overseas tragedy more interesting. A murder in a quiet suburb is more interesting than a gang-shooting in a sink estate. A famous footballer letting off an air-gun is more newsworthy than a bloke in a pub doing the same thing.

Choices, choices...

Original poster
zazizoma · 27/02/2011 16:32

Yes Chil, choices, but the fact that news agencies are choosing to present deathtoll by nationality suggests that they are appealing to something. To what are they appealing? Why should the statistic that 4 Britons are among the hundreds of NZ dead be of specific interest to warrant a headline?

OP posts:
iskra · 27/02/2011 16:38

I know what you mean OP. It sits a little oddly with me too. I get all the reasons for doing it, but still...

Katey1010 · 27/02/2011 16:42

YANBU. I hate it. Like one Brit is worth two Americans and worth 100 Africans. That's what it seems like. I bet CNN and Fox News have a chart that tells them when something is worth reporting. If a bus goes off a cliff... "oh, only 30 Indians, hold on, there was an American on board, put it in the news".

Chil1234 · 27/02/2011 17:36

"To what are they appealing? Why should the statistic that 4 Britons are among the hundreds of NZ dead be of specific interest to warrant a headline?"

The headline is the latest angle and a long-running news story needs fresh perspective as time goes on. Day 1... disaster and initial shock reactions. Day 2 & 3... the rescue operation, international teams arrive. Day 4 & 5... hopes fade for survivors. Day 6 where we are now... church services for the bereaved, identity of the victims, stories of heroism.

And to what are they appealing?... The fact that a 25 year-old man from Tadcaster tragically lost his life in NZ is simply more 'personal' for people here. We know where the town is. He will have friends and relations here. We therefore connect with it much more than if he was a 25 year-old from Oslo or Cape Town. Not because 'one Brit is worth 2 Americans etc.' (What a ridiculous point of view Katy1010!)

Katey1010 · 27/02/2011 20:54

Ridiculous Chil1234, really? If you watch the news a lot you will have noticed that disasters in the majority world are only reported when they either have human interest (Chile mine) or a huge amount of people die or there are Europeans/Americans there.

Personally, I know where Christchurch is and I've no clue where Tadcaster is (having been to Christchurch and not having been to Tadcaster). I do think that people value human life in their corner of the world more than the lives of people in the majority world. Otherwise, we wouldn't buy clothes made in sweatshops there, eat chocolate farmed by slaves there and let children be sexually abused by tourists there.

YankNCock · 27/02/2011 20:58

YANBU.

I also find it weird.

BeerTricksPotter · 27/02/2011 21:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BaroqueAroundTheClock · 27/02/2011 21:13

I don't think they "value" it more - it's just more personal, they can relate to it more.

Sadly there are far too many natural disasters, wars, accidents, and political unrest happening around the world to report them all and so naturaly a) only the major ones get reported widely, and on a national level most countries will only give longer coverage of a situation that is also of some national interest.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page