china earthquake - did you see the 5 year old boy coming out of rubble?

[JoshandJamie]

I watched BBC news and they showed a 5 year old boy who'd been trapped for 4 days under the rubble. They got him out thank god, but just the way he was, clinging to the rescuer - it broke my heart. My little boy is 4 and I could not imagine him trapped underground like that for 4 days.

It just keeps running through my head. Awful.

I keep switching this off - the pictures are so graphic, all the hands and feet in the rubble at the school last night was horrendous!

I think the graphic pictures/images that the media are churning out are unnecessary.
We do not need these images in our heads.

last night, the picture they showed of the mother looking for her child and looking all hopeful...and then they showed the mother's face as she realised the child was dead...

was too much, FAR too much. I nearly wrote in and complained actually. Dh was more affected than me. It was bloody awful. Felt like a real intrusion on her grief.

I mean they showed her finding the child and holding the dead child's hand in hers...

dd saw this, on CH4 news at 7pm. I was horrified. I said they could watch a little telly whilst I did the washing up and when I went in, that was on.

But I suppose if you are in China, there is no off switch is there?

I agree, foxinsocks - we can imagine the hideous grief of these poor people. Their pain is not entertainment.

When you're dealing in 100000s of people, it's so easy to become numb to it, but each person is someone's child, mother, father, sibling. It's just awful. Am very glad I missed the bit about the mother finding her child. I think that would have pushed me over the edge.

I think we should start complaining.
Officially, I mean.
It is so intrusive and manipulative to broadcast these images

A few years ago DH had to help recover a body from the river near us. The local paper printed an extremely clear photo of this recovery alongside a head and shoulders shot of the man in question, and a pic of his family.
DH complained, was ignored.
He saw the editor at some function adn complained in person, editor basically told him to feck off as it is freedom of press.

It's disgusting.

Chirpy, that doesn't surprise me, sadly

it's just horrible that it doesn't surprise us, since when did we accept that journalists/editors/press get to have no morals?

(scuse disjointed typing, non-sleeping teething baby on lap)

Exactly, they always hide behind this frredom of the press idea as something worthy.
What is the worth in broadcasting others' misery to sell papers.
I thnk the worst aspect of it is that we all become numb to these images, so it really does degrade us all.

We have our own protest, I refuse to buy the paper in question and freely tell people why.
When I was living in Liverpool I was told about teh Sun's reporting of HIllsborough and found that a huge number of people boycott the sun there because of it.
It's only small things but they should add up hopefully.

Also I don't watch television news, I read online as then I can avoid pictures/sensationalism/pointless stories

I guess the only thing that is going to hit them are fall in sales.
People Power!
Good for you

I feel for the people who have lost their LOs, and I don't have a telly, haven't had one for 20 years. I buy the paper and read news online, as I find that I can't see these images: they upset me to an unacceptable degree and are unnecessary.

I know in my heart how it would feel to be there in china - and especially with the One Child Scheme - the horror, just think - but I find the 24/7 media story machine really manipulative and damaging.