Be honest. Were you aware that over 200 people had died under mudslides in Java in the last 48 hours? Well, being the kind of weirdos that read blogs like mine you probably were. But can someone please explain to me the contrast - outside the US where it is after all a local story - between the coverage of the Java tragedy and the Virginia mine disaster which everyone's heard about?
Are 12 American miners really that much more important to non-Americans than 200 Indonesians? Why?
Sorry. Like this sodding cough I picked up in Morocco, just another irritant I had to get off my chest.
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It's because they don't speak English. And they're probably mostly Muslim and Hindu. We can't relate to them. Plus the miner story promises to go on as the mining company gets sued. There's also the religious angle (where everyone was praying for the miners, the company reported that most were saved and then it turned out that only one was). I didn't follow the story so I don't know what order all of that happened in.
Do you know whether or not it's being reported in other European countries?
The fact that you know all those details without even following the story illustrates the point.
Very difficult to judge how its being reported in other countries. If you type CIJERUK (where the tragedy occurred) into the Google News page for the different countries you'll find plenty of entries. But you'll find no less that 688 for the UK. Yet, as you know, the story has been almost invisible despite that apparent widespread coverage. Yeah, everybody covered it - on page 15. Yeah the BBC covered it - on their web site. I'm an avid Radio 4 listener and I've yet to hear it mentioned on there.
I think your original thought is mostly correct. They just don't seem as important. But why?
I'd go for "Javanese" if I had to put money on it. Or, of course, Indonesians (which is what they are).
Its perfectly understandable that the Virginia story took precedence in America. But why the rest of the world? I don't disagree with any of the views expressed so far. The Indonesians just aren't important to the rest of the world (for the reasons already given).
All I suppose I can say is that perhaps we should regard this as a measure of the psychological health of global society. When we get to the stage that an Indonesian tragedy attracts the same level of attention as a European or American one, the world will have become a much healthier place.
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