A new meaning was brought to Friday the 13 in 2015. The world suffered multiple horrifying blows on this typically unlucky day. All over the world, people suffered.
Most notable in the media was the Paris terrorist attacks. A faction of ISIS bombed a Paris soccer stadium during a game that the French President was attending. There were shootings all over the cities in restaurants and bars. There was a mass shooting in a Parisian concert hall, where the attackers held civilians hostage for hours. Over 100 were reported dead and 350 injured. Paris has declared a state of emergency for the next three months.
Of course the world should stand with Paris. It is crucial we all band together in such terrible times. This attack as been named one of the worst in a decade. But this was not the only unlucky strike the world faced on Friday.
The media, with such strong focus on Paris, failed to mention the other events that transpired on the same day.
According to slate.com, Beirut, Lebanon suffered from another round of ISIS bombings, killing 43 people. The media forgot about this tragedy as soon as attacks in Paris hit.
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake hit the coast of Japan on the Ryukyu Islands on the same day. No one died from this natural disaster.
In Baghdad, two bombings took place. The first killed seven people and injured 15. The second was a suicide bombing in a neighboring city killing 21 and injuring 46. The attacks have been linked to ISIS.
The issue with this coverage is that the media only focused on one of four major tragedies that all took place during the same 24-hour period. It is unfair to shed more light on one event, when all were devastating. Sure, the attacks in Paris were far more deadly and disastrous, but it is crucial the media covers all such events with the same amount of respect.
It is untrue to say all of these tragedies are equal in terms of death tolls and severity, but it is necessary to have an appropriate amount of coverage of all events. The news exploded with news about Paris while it barely touched on the other three events.
The media must put all serious events such as these into the spotlight for some time. It is crucial citizens are aware of everything happening, even if one event is more severe or important than the others. The overshadowed events are still important to our society and are being forgotten due to the inequitable news coverage.
