Too much 9/11?
We've just come off air and I've been thinking about what Simon in Italy and Jason in New York were saying on today's programme. They disagreed about 9/11 commemorations, but agreed that the media really gorges on the tragedy. It's something all of us here on the team grapple with everday.
How do you give a voice to people around the world who don't necessarily speak English, or confident English, in hard to reach places on crackly phone lines. That's what it boils down to, right? Access? If the world's media can get to a place, understand what's being said, and relate to it, then it's BIG NEWS. If it bleeds, it leads. Similarly, if the people bleeding also happen to live in a modern, western city and look like you & me (whatever that means), then we can all sit transfixed in front of our TV screens, sharing in the communal grief, feeling connected & concerned.
In a few weeks, I'll be off to Delhi to be one of the Ö÷²¥´óÐã's correspondents in South Asia (temporarily! I hope to be back in the World Have Your Say studio in the new year). But it's an issue I'll face again, everyday. How to translate the concerns, fears, opinions, prejudices, & dreams of 1.2 billion people to the rest of the world... Help me out-- what do you want to know! What do you want to talk about?? What's missing in our reporting? With your help, we (the media) might just get it right one day!
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