Different Way To Interpret Events
We all love the thrill of having the latest news, but is it really necessary to have it delivered to our e-mail inboxes every day? For most people, news tends to be more about what they see and hear than about what they read. News is mostly about what is happening in people’s lives. Even though the news may be filled with crime and disasters, the reader will probably see more important developments on their television screen than what is going on in real life.
Examples of news from a recent week The first news of the week was a report that a thirty-two-year-old man was discovered alive in the Nevada wilderness with a brain fracture. The news agency which released the report, KVN, was highly critical of the handling of the situation by law enforcement officials, saying that the medical care of the man was substandard. This news story was obviously in the vein of past breaking news stories, such as the one regarding an escaped convict who had a thousand dollars in his pocket. Though there were many comments about the conduct of law enforcement officials, no one seemed to consider the possibility that this poor man might not have been able to fend for himself, given his injuries.
Agence France-presse (French news services) reported that a shipment of humanitarian supplies had landed at the Spanish port of Malaga after it was damaged in a big explosion. The explosion reportedly occurred when terrorists aboard a cargo vessel tried to raid a Christian fishing ship that was carrying humanitarian supplies to areas under terrorist control. The explosion destroyed the fishing boat and the crew, including eight men from France, were rescued unharmed. The explosion also disabled the communications equipment aboard the vessel, so it was not immediately known whether the men would have been able to make any kind of call to help the others.
A few minutes later, another major explosion took place in a warehouse in Zablaira, Turkey. The explosion injured several people and caused a fire that covered much of the area. Agence France-presse (French news agencies) reported that the dead included six French citizens. Turkish authorities confirmed the dead were all employees of the warehouse and the Turkish flag was displayed over the fire. The story line was that the authorities were investigating whether some of the materials were illegally purchased from China, and that is being considered as one of the reasons that the warehouse was targeted.
Other news agencies noted that there were no reports of casualties as a result of the explosions. There were also no reports of damage to the offices of the different news agencies. It is interesting to note that in many cases, there were conflicting accounts of what happened, as the government issued contradictory statements. It is probably best for people to wait and see what the police report will say.
One of the more high profile cases of newsworthy events that resulted in conflicting news stories was the terrorist attack in March in Barcelona, Spain. There were multiple news agencies, as well as local TV stations, which reported extensively on the event. However, there were major differences in how the various news agencies conveyed their reporting. CNN, for example, ran a two-pronged attack, using the attack itself, as well as photos of the aftermath to illustrate their point. Many other news agencies, including the AP, focused exclusively on the police response to the attacks and failed to mention the terrorist incident at all.