Thought Experiments : The Blog

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Relative Values in Death

Strange, but, I suppose, unsurprising, how little coverage the Yemenia plane crash is getting compared to the Air France. French lives must be more important than Yemeni.

# posted by Bryan Appleyard : 9:05 AM  

10 Comments:

  • At June 30, 2009 10:06 AM, Blogger Brit said…

    Looking for logic, scale or consistency in mainstream news reporting seems a pretty futile occupation.

     

  • At June 30, 2009 11:52 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Yes - and selfishly my thought was 'another Airbus' thinking of a likely future flight...

     

  • At June 30, 2009 4:50 PM, Blogger Vince said…

    We just do not have the connection anymore. Frankincense and myrrh, are not as important as Dior and YSL.
    Plus, there is always the outside chance one could have been on the AirFrance flight.

     

  • At June 30, 2009 5:13 PM, Blogger Tom P. said…

    Based on the number of suicide bombers in Yemen as opposed to Paris, apparently the Yemenis feel the same way.

     

  • At June 30, 2009 5:48 PM, Blogger Phidelm said…

    In fact, the flight was en route from France to les isles Comorres (sp?)in the Indian ocean via the Yemen.
    Passengers almost all French nationals/residents, ie franco-comorreens, and mostly from Marseille (main concentration of franco-comorreens).
    It's headline news here in France (local/regional in south; national coverage on other stations).
    Blimey: word verif. = fackbe ...!

     

  • At June 30, 2009 6:56 PM, Anonymous Phidelm said…

    aargh, forgot conclusion: aren't instances such as this in same category as the in/famous Titanic reportage ('Aberdeen man lost at sea')?
    So many news items, so little time - and emphasis inevitably on matters of local, regional and national interest according to the scale of the event.
    Glad I'm not an editor ...

     

  • At June 30, 2009 7:55 PM, Blogger Tom P. said…

    Based on what I am seeing so far, the coverage is not significantly different here in the US.

     

  • At June 30, 2009 7:56 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Location, location, location. The Air France crash offered news reporting bases in Brazil and in France.

    This crash offers reporting bases in France, Yemen (which is arguably dangerous for Westerners), and the remote Comoros.

    Also, I'm afraid that "third world passenger vehicle disaster" isn't considered big news. If it's not a Yemeni jet, it's a sunken ferry in the Philippines.

     

  • At June 30, 2009 8:03 PM, Blogger Tom P. said…

    Yes. "Ferry sinks in Philippines killing 10,000" is page 18. "Drunk driver kills actress on FDR Drive" is page 5 (or front page headline if she's a famous actress).

     

  • At July 03, 2009 2:39 PM, Anonymous lazer epilasyon ücretleri said…

    Most of the aircraft accidents (70-75%) arise from pilotage failure..

     

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