Our society is to blame for bias
Friday 26 October 2012
Printable
EmailElish McLeod (M Star, October 19) points out the media bias towards the reporting of some events at the expense of others.
He contrasts the abduction of the 15-year-old girl by her teacher, which took up much media attention, with the unreported plight of many black children.
Among others who do not receive the respect of media attention are prostitutes who disappear unnamed and unnoticed, while those who die en masse are deemed more important than the equal number who die singly and alone in tragic circumstances.
If the media is controlled by a certain way of thinking, this will then be reflected in who is deemed important and who not.
This is not merely the fault of elitism at the top of the media profession: such thinking can be found in all walks of life where, for instance footballers gain prominence while starving children are given none, waged work is seen as more important than unwaged work, and men's lives and experiences take precedence over women's.
Perhaps we get the media we deserve.
Marilyn Warbis
Plymouth
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