Overshadow

As the front pages of all major news outlets indicate, Japan and the Pacific were recently rocked by a mind-numbing display of Mother Nature's wrath in the form of an enormous earthquake and the ensuing tsunami. It's horrible to think of the suffering that's currently being experienced by thousands upon thousands of people as a result of this disaster. This story deserves immense coverage. However, it's interesting to me that the top story of the past few weeks is suddenly difficult to find on the New York Times front page. The uprising in Libya has certainly not ended, but its coverage has steeply declined in favor of coverage of the earthquake and tsunami.

I don't mean to sound like I don't think the tsunami is tragic or important. Of course, I know it is. I am just as horrified as anyone else by the eerie and devastating footage that's all over the internet. It's just interesting to me that the general population does not seem to be capable of comprehending two major news stories at once, or at least that's how the media are making it seem. It doesn't seem fair to the people fighting, protesting, dying in Libya that they should lose the attention of the world in favor of another disaster. I wish the media could continue to cover the Middle East crisis while simultaneously giving the recent weather terror the coverage it also deserves.

News outlets are showing us that the general public isn't capable of empathizing with two groups of people at once, and that makes me embarrassed. There isn't a specific quota of suffering that cannot be exceeded in the world. Just because a new group of people is suffering doesn't mean the Libyans aren't anymore. I know that this trend in coverage won't change any time soon, but I think we should be mindful that we don't just forget the plight of one group of people once another major story comes up.