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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to just turn off the tv whenever Nepal comes on and ignore it

215 replies

nettlewine · 29/04/2015 06:46

It just upsets me too much and makes me feel useless. I've already given a donation.

I just feel like it doesn't affect me so I shouldn't feel the need to see all the brutal details as it doesn't achieve anything.

OP posts:
chiefbrody · 29/04/2015 08:30

And with that im off .... I wont be back all day..... things to do.

richthegreatcornholio · 29/04/2015 08:34

So lets make sure we give if we can

I think not.

elQuintoConyo · 29/04/2015 08:34

Christ on a rubber bike, time to update my shitlist Shock

I'm speechless at the callous, selfish ignorance on here.

Chippednailvarnish · 29/04/2015 08:34

If we had a disaster would Nepal be sending over money and aid... I think not

No, but we are quite happy to rely on the Gurkhas when need be...

LuisSuarezTeeth · 29/04/2015 08:35

You do enjoy a spot of early morning nastiness don't you rich?

SometimesTables · 29/04/2015 08:35

I don't watch the news much either. I will watch the political discussion programs where there is a bit more analysis though and I'll check the BBC online news.
I don't watch or read much about ISIS - it's often too graphic. I don't need to see things to understand.
I find a lot of reporting of disasters very voyeristic. Think of how K Burley (not sure that's the right name - the awful woman on Sky news ) was reporting from the scene in Wales where April Jones (?) was murdered. It was shocking. So intrusive and so insensitive.

OP YANBU

Seriouslyffs · 29/04/2015 08:35

I think when there has been a Natural Disaster and you've donated there's little good that watching news footage can do.
When things are happening because of human behaviour- at the moment in Baltimore, Indonesia, here re. the elections, there's a point to news and watching it.
I know what the poster up thread means by mawkish.

eyebags63 · 29/04/2015 08:35

CoolCadbury The media is saturated with stories of grief and tragedy.... not always on this scale but barely a day goes past when the news isn't about the death of some group of people or another.

chiefbrody
I turn it off cause I am not interested

I don't even turn it on these days. I suspect a lot of people of a similar mindset are too afraid to voice that kind of opinion, especially in 'real life', for fear of getting the kind of reaction seen in this thread.

Of course what has happened is sad. But personally I'm not interested enough to want to hear about it 24/7 and I find the public reactions of many people quite frankly a bit weird.

Wikipedia sums up the media coverage on this type of topic quite well for me:

"Mourning sickness is a collective emotional condition of "recreational grieving" by individuals in the wake of celebrity deaths and other public traumas. Such traumas may be linked to hyper-attentive, intrusive, and voyeuristic media coverage, which has been dubbed grief porn."

crapfatbanana · 29/04/2015 08:39

Gosh, you're all heart Rich. You were right at the front of the queue when they were dishing out empathy, weren't you?

OP - YANBU to not want to see all the coverage if it makes you feel powerless to help beyond the donation you have made.

Mrsjayy · 29/04/2015 08:42

No interest whatsoever and will be glad when the royal baby is born is the most callous thing ive ever read on here peoples lives have been lost but least a royal baby will cheer us up eh Hmm. I find the coverage really intrusive cameras in hurt peoples faces but I dont turn off because it upsets me

Plateofcrumbs · 29/04/2015 08:44

Well this thread just reminded me I meant to donate and have now done so. You can donate to the DEC appeal via PayPal so just a few clicks:

paypal.dec.org.uk

On the subject of the OP: I think it is important to be aware of what is happening in the world but we don't immerse ourselves in the suffering of others as some form of penance. But we should be aware of and grateful for the fact we have the luxury of being able to simply turn off the TV and put it to the back of our minds.

Plateofcrumbs · 29/04/2015 08:46

I missed some words out of my last paragraph so it doesn't make much sense - basically I meant 'do what you can and be grateful for what you have got'

noddyholder · 29/04/2015 08:51

Sad to see grown adults have to stoop to this to get their kicks and attention with a bit of 6th form style obtuse opinion. they are like Kevin and Perry

Sandinmyshoes · 29/04/2015 08:51

chiefbrody and rich - off because you're not interested or having a teenage style flounce off because your argument about Nepal not being there for us was ill thought through and incorrect?! I notice that you shoot down others comments but have no response for a counter argument that actually has some substance. Engage in an intelligent conversation to support your words or stay off the thread.

frostyfingers · 29/04/2015 08:53

So whatatit you assume that all Tories are twats and incapable of feeling empathy for the suffering in Nepal? I would imagine that most definitely some are, as I'm sure are others of differing political persuasions, just pointing out that we aren't all as bad as rich, please don't lump me in with him/her!

thegreylady · 29/04/2015 08:53

I think everyone has the right not to watch footage but those who say they don't care should be ashamed.
We have so much, they have so little yet the Ghurka regiment fought so bravely for us. They can't give aid if we have a disaster, they gave their lives. I donated what I could and wish it was more.
Shame on you if you 'don't care' about the deaths of thousand, the destruction of their homes and all that that will mean.
Don't watch by all means but please care.

slightlyeggstained · 29/04/2015 08:54

I haven't watched news for ages. I tend to read it instead - there's still some imagery that I find excessive but it's less direct (or feels so).

I had people I knew in New York at the time of 9/11. For days, while waiting to hear if they were alive, people would come up (unaware that I knew anyone there) and ask with great excitement if I'd seen the latest horror porn installment. I'd explain that I was deliberately avoiding any imagery and why.

I find that the emphasis on very explicit details in reporting of disasters is actually quite distancing - there seems to be an escalating attempt to get an emotional response at any cost, and fuck any other attributes of reporting - was it ethical, accurate, respectful of people's pain and grief.

I have no idea whether this applies to the Nepal TV reporting because I am not watching it. But the above is why.

Aprilday · 29/04/2015 08:56

Perhaps we have here our own "unnatural disaster ? Folk like rich who feel it's accetable to lack empathy and a knowledge of history.The consequences of too many thinking like that would truly be our own disaster.

Mrsjayy · 29/04/2015 09:05

Wise words from thegreylady please care summed it up when we as a society stop caring then society fecked

Icimoi · 29/04/2015 09:07

Rich is regularly on here extolling right wing politics. The attitude she has shown on here is highly revealing of why the right wing thinks that way. Dying in an earthquake? We don't care, it doesn't affect us. Disabled? We don't care, take away their benefits. Made redundant because employers have gone bust? We don't care, we're in work. Old and stuck on your own with totally inadequate care? We don't care, we're not old. Dying, with ATOS on your back saying you should be at work? ATOS is absolutely correct, why should we have to pay for you? Fleeing torture and certain death? Tough, send them back where they came from.

The fact that some people actually think that way is why people like IDS are in politics and why Katie Hopkins is allowed a platform.

ConfusedInBath · 29/04/2015 09:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

usualsuspect333 · 29/04/2015 09:15

Rich likes to make inflammatory comments. He thinks they make him look well hard.

Sad fucker.

CoolCadbury · 29/04/2015 09:15

eye yes, agreed that some/a lot of the news is about tragedy and grief BUT I was responding to your suggestion specifically about hearing "these types of disaster all the time". My point still stands. This type of disaster is exceptional and we don't hear about it all the time.

I never watch Sky News so have no idea what it's coverage is like. In fact, I very rarely watch TV news at all. But that does not mean I am not informed and I don't keep track of what's going on in the world.

Turn it off, don't turn it on, whatever. But just because you ignore the devastation does not mean that it doesn't exist and that people are suffering.

goodnessgraciousgouda · 29/04/2015 09:18

I find it quite sad that often after an event like this, the media coverage can get quite sickening.

It's a really tough line to have to draw, but there is a distinction between raising awareness, obviously connecting ex pats to what is going on back home, keeping people updated, etc. There is that, and then there is almost taking advantage of other people's agony, by using it to keep the papers full.

If a news station actually cared about the people involved, they would come to an agreement with another station to share a reporter, and then donate all the resources they would have used to push exactly the same story, to actually help the people involved.

UsedtobeFeckless · 29/04/2015 09:19

Thanks for the link Plateofcrumbs ...