By Way Of Comparison

The Seattle Times' coverage of yesterday's earthquake and tidal wave -- which, at time of printing, had killed 13,500 people -- spans almost four full pages, including the great majority of the front page. It all adds up to roughly 140 column-inches, five photos, three graphics, and a list of suggested websites for further reading.

On the other hand, the Times' coverage of survey findings, published in the medical field's most respected journal, The Lancet, that 100,000 Iraqis "died since the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq than would have been expected otherwise" amounts to eight paragraphs in the Times' now-defunct blog maintained by staffer Tom Brown. Brown concludes by "having" to "wonder" whether "these numbers anywhere near accurate".

To this blogger's knowledge, the story has never appeared in the paper's print edition.

Which is not to minimise the magnitude of the tragic events unfolding in Southeast Asia. But it is a tragedy, after all, which was unforeseen, and not preventable; in sharp contradistinction with the human tragedy currently unfolding in Iraq -- for which American taxpayers bear the lion's share of the culpability.

For a newspaper which continually boasts, in full page advertisements, of its "independence" (as the Seattle Times does), one can't help "wonder" at its editorial priorities.

No doubt the same can be said of your own hometown daily, not to mention the so-called "trend-setting" media. (If anybody's got similar comparitive statistics of the two stories for the New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times; please feel free to provide them.)

Update, 12/29/04: U.S. President George W. Bush pledged to set up an international coalition, with Australia, India and Japan, to co-ordinate the relief effort.

Gee, you think maybe he could set up an international coalition to co-ordinate a relief effort for the hundreds of thousands of Fallujah refugees?

Update, 1/12/04: Ex-Python Terry Jones eloquently sees through the hypocrisy.

Posted by Eddie Tews at December 27, 2004 07:58 PM