There. I said it. That’s what I think the media is pretty much all about. I am surprised, along with so many people, at this simple, very obvious fact – the media is more of a distraction than a way to communicate with people.
Rightly expressed by my co-fellow, Wafa (Palestine), “When the tragedy at Virginia tech took place, there was still more news about Anna Nicole Smith’s baby and controversies being covered more than tragedy itself. And of course, why isn’t anyone really addressing the question as to why guns are being allowed on campus, or why it is so easy to buy guns. While it might be an issue that one political party or the other may wish to hold national debates on, if the media would just inform the public on the issues involved from both sides, that might just be one less issue that the candidates will be debating on.
Presently if you ask the average joe on the road as to why guns haven’t been banned, he will give you one of two replies: either that he doesn’t know or the casual response that every citizen has the right to protect himself. Beyond that, nothing.
Believe it or not, America is engaged in war. Not in its own land but it definitely has a large number of American soldiers on its behalf. How much of the news actually covers the war? Except for the casual news update, do viewers in the US really even know what is going on there? Wafa was absolutely right in pointing out very early on that though the US is in the middle of such a huge war, you don’t get the same feeling through the news and media.
While I write this down, my mailbox is flooded with news reports and people writing to me about the violence happening in Pakistan. Though most of the unbelievable acts are happening in Islamabad, hundreds of miles away from my home in Karachi, I find the front page of the BBC and CNN international, along with countless other news sources, having the worst bits highlighted. Yes. I fear the security of my home and my family and it is ironic that the same media sources don’t spend as much time to push the raging battles in Iraq on the same front pages.
I read the news reports about Pakistan and I want to run back home and be with my family. Do the newsrooms really care to emit such panic amongst the people of the US by regularly reporting about the war in Iraq?
Showing posts with label war. Show all posts
Showing posts with label war. Show all posts
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Saturday, April 28, 2007
The homeless and the ignored
Not having traveled to the United States, or anywhere else for that matter, for a period longer than a few days, I was shocked when I find myself shocked at the state of people living on the street is.
A few months ago, I watched the Will Smith movie, ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ and was reminded of the harsh truth of homeless shelters, and then like most people around the world, huddled under the comfort of my blanket and forgot about it. I walked past a homeless shelter a few hours ago here in San Francisco and stood at the sidewalk across on the street to watch what happened.
There was a line of about 150 people that extended down the block. I felt ashamed looking at the line because it reminded me of the line that I had stood in while waiting to enter the David Letterman show while I was in New York. When I walked looked around the block to figure out where this shelter was, I was shocked at how closely situated it was to the Hilton and Hotel Nikko, where I was staying. Such close proximity yet such a great void between them.
So I took a walk around the block and saw what I would have seen on the average, random street in India or Pakistan. People huddling together to keep warm, asleep on the side of the sidewalks, people ruffling through garbage in search for anything that might help them to survive through the day. No family units or friends looking out for one another – every man, woman and child for himself.
I am continued to be in awe of how the most powerful and richest country on the planet, will not exert the wisdom to cure issues of poverty and education in its own backyard. I am not a politically inclined individual so I see things in a more simplistic manner and maybe that just makes me stupid, but for a country that boasts about reviving the quality of life in a country hundreds of thousands of miles away, it’s a wonder they don’t have a more concrete plan to take care of their own people.
It’s like when the Government of Pakistan increases its Defense budget, the people protest because we would rather that the government use the money on raising the quality of life, rather than spend it on safeguarding our borders. People aren’t the eminent threat to neighboring countries – policies and diplomacy (or lack there of) are.
If I talk about how troubled I get to see the US from the perspective of the grassroot level in the various cities with people, they are quick to tell me that I don’t know what I am talking about because I am just getting a superficial look at the situation. I’ve spent several weeks here and I would imagine that my expertise as a writer does enable me to be quite observant and open to these experiences
You can smell the poverty and misery through the air as you walk down certain alleys and streets. And those streets are the ones that don’t have the Body Shop scents aerating the environment. In country’s such as mine, the slums are in pockets around the city, but you wouldn’t walk through those unintentionally. The lower economy I passed through today was something I stumbled through. It is a place that has fit itself into the make up of the community. One block away from the tourist destinations. So close, yet so far.
A few months ago, I watched the Will Smith movie, ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ and was reminded of the harsh truth of homeless shelters, and then like most people around the world, huddled under the comfort of my blanket and forgot about it. I walked past a homeless shelter a few hours ago here in San Francisco and stood at the sidewalk across on the street to watch what happened.
There was a line of about 150 people that extended down the block. I felt ashamed looking at the line because it reminded me of the line that I had stood in while waiting to enter the David Letterman show while I was in New York. When I walked looked around the block to figure out where this shelter was, I was shocked at how closely situated it was to the Hilton and Hotel Nikko, where I was staying. Such close proximity yet such a great void between them.
So I took a walk around the block and saw what I would have seen on the average, random street in India or Pakistan. People huddling together to keep warm, asleep on the side of the sidewalks, people ruffling through garbage in search for anything that might help them to survive through the day. No family units or friends looking out for one another – every man, woman and child for himself.
I am continued to be in awe of how the most powerful and richest country on the planet, will not exert the wisdom to cure issues of poverty and education in its own backyard. I am not a politically inclined individual so I see things in a more simplistic manner and maybe that just makes me stupid, but for a country that boasts about reviving the quality of life in a country hundreds of thousands of miles away, it’s a wonder they don’t have a more concrete plan to take care of their own people.
It’s like when the Government of Pakistan increases its Defense budget, the people protest because we would rather that the government use the money on raising the quality of life, rather than spend it on safeguarding our borders. People aren’t the eminent threat to neighboring countries – policies and diplomacy (or lack there of) are.
If I talk about how troubled I get to see the US from the perspective of the grassroot level in the various cities with people, they are quick to tell me that I don’t know what I am talking about because I am just getting a superficial look at the situation. I’ve spent several weeks here and I would imagine that my expertise as a writer does enable me to be quite observant and open to these experiences
You can smell the poverty and misery through the air as you walk down certain alleys and streets. And those streets are the ones that don’t have the Body Shop scents aerating the environment. In country’s such as mine, the slums are in pockets around the city, but you wouldn’t walk through those unintentionally. The lower economy I passed through today was something I stumbled through. It is a place that has fit itself into the make up of the community. One block away from the tourist destinations. So close, yet so far.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)