Everyone counts

Have you ever noticed that our newscasts value some lives more than others. Last week we listened in horror to the news that someone with a truck and guns murdered 84 people in Nice. It is horrible. How could this have happened? One quarter of the nightly newscast was dedicated to this story. During the past year, other such attacks have been major news stories: Paris, Brussels, and Orlando to name a few. But googling a list of other attacks this year, it was quite frightening to realise that there are so many other places that have suffered such attrocities. Oh some I had heard mention of in the news: the attacks in Jakarta, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, but countless other places have had barely a mention in the news Iraq, Syria, Egypt, India, Bangladesh, Somalia, and Nigeria to name a few. Why is it that some places seem so important, while others get barely a mention?

I am also amazed at how some people get such news coverage, while other people get ignored. Pauline Hanson, the senator elect, has tv cameras flocking to her door to catch her controversial statements. Donald Trump is able to make the news with one bombastic statement after another. But other politicians who work very hard for their constituents are never mentioned. Certain sports figures, like Jarryd Haynes, get almost daily coverage in the news (whether they are winning or not) while other athletes get totally ignored. One missing child gets a 10 minute story on the newscast while another missing child does not get mentioned for weeks. Why are some newsmakers such press darlings, while other news stories get no mention at all?

It seems to me we have forgotten. All lives are important. Not just some. But it is obvious from the fact that several action groups have had to call society into account and remind us that we are not a society of equality that we believe that we are.  Movements like Black Lives Matter, It Gets Better Project, the Aboriginal and Torres Island Straight Congress, and countless others all help to remind us that we have so much further to come in order that all lives are treated with the same value.

Now don't get me wrong. I do mourn for the lives of all those who were killed in Nice, 9/11, and in Paris. Their deaths are a great tragedy. I also mourn for those who were killed in other extremist attacks that barely rated a mention on our news (the people of Dhaka, Medina, Turkey, and Indonesia).  Their deaths weigh on me as well. I cry for the mother who's face is on the news talking about her missing daughter. I also cry for other parents who have missing children but the news seems to forget them. I do marvel at anyone who gives of their time and serves in politics, including those back benchers who just quietly do their jobs while others are in the limelight. Finally, I marvel at the gifts of all athletes, even the ones who finish well back in the race. Everyone is important.

We live in a world of sound bites. We have become a society obsessed with who can grab the limelight and hold our attention the longest. Both Donald Trump and Pauline Hanson know this. But we need to remind ourselves that for every camera hog, there are millions of other important stories that go untold. For every headline, there are countless other stories that have not been told. For every feature story on a politician or a sports champion, there are thousands of other people who work just as hard who go unnoticed. We need to look beyond the sound bites and the media darlings though and have compassion for all not just for some. Blessings.