Patrick

It seemed that all the news here (Florida) was the Madrid bombings. But one thing I think you're missing. Most stations have "local and/or state news" programs separate from "national and international news" programs. So it is logical in a way that when the national/international news will probably be coming on in a short while, the local news really would be focusing on what they are supposed to do -- state and local news. I've been surprised of late that our state and local news ends up being mainly international or national stuff. Then when the national news comes on, it's all a repeat of what they've just done.

I'm wondering if you'd have been just as upset if the big local story was about some major accident at home or a huge fire instead of a report on gay marriages?

mamc

I did not see a single news broadcast, local or national, from the time the Madrid story broke, that did not have that story first. I have not see a single newspaper that did not have the story in the major headline. I think all Americans are thinking of our friends in Spain and that we care about them and offer our deepest sympathy. And I think the title of this thread is a little overwrought.

job816

Please note that despite what the news may or may not have shown first, many Americans are aware of the attacks and feel you pain. Terror attacks, no matter where they happen effect everyone. We all suffer by the cruelty of it all. Please, don't judge all Americans by what you seen on the news.

tomboy

Why are people surprised that some other people haven't heard about certain events (9/11, Bali, Madrid, etc)?
Maybe they don't read or hear news.

Don't you realize 50% of the people in the world have intelligence below average?

I have an acquaintance who is quite content with our local town paper (circulation 5,000) and prides himself on not watching the TV news. And he spends ALL Saturday morning reading both pages of the sport section, so he (he's 65, by the way) can keep track of the relative prowess of each high school team in the state.

I don't think he posts on Fodor's.

Scarlett

tcl,
1-the US was attacked like that and there was unrelenting coverage for months. Also, people from other countries died then too and those countries had non-stop coverage.
2-Be ashamed of the media as a whole, not just American. So called 'journalists' are a breed apart, I cannot imagine being involved in the sort of work they do, or the way they think.
3- Everyone I know was watching CNN all day yesterday, broken hearted and being from NYC, knowing all too well how horrific it all is, how your life is changed forever when something like this happens, regardless if you lost someone close to you. The lives of those people will never be the same, but you know what? No ones lives are the same, as long as these animals are allowed to continue to live and commit acts like this-we will all be in danger of bombings and attacks on our families and loved ones.
Instead of writing about it here, we should all be writing to the Government representatives of our country/states/cities and let them know that we do not want to live in fear, that the only people that can do something about this is our Government.
On another thread, ira said that this will continue until every country sends 10,000 troops out to hunt these people down and eradicate them. (sorry, ira, if I misquote) This means every country, not just the US and Britain.
So don't be so ashamed, get mad and do something about it.

mcgeezer

I don't know where you are from tcl but here in San Diego the Madrid bombings were foremost on the national news. I happened to be at a friend's home yesterday and they had the Mexican news channel on: Madrid Bombings.
I'm sure that in Korea the story that ran along side the bombings in Madrid was of the presidential impeachment.
The favorite American pastime really isn't baseball, it's self criticism. It's not only silly to engage in this false self deprecation, it?s annoying and seems to be a way to draw attention back unto us. If your only news source is going to be television then stay tuned for the national news.

easytraveler

Tomboy: I like your post in general, but one sentence kinda stuck out:

"Don't you realize 50% of the people in the world have intelligence below average?"

Does this mean that the other 50% has intelligence ABOVE average?

Of course, all Fodorites belong in the second category!

Sue_xx_yy

Mcgeezer

Like all great insights, yours was obvious to me....once I'd read it, that is. How right you are, that when we criticize ourselves, we are still talking about....ourselves.

wealthy_backpacker

It makes sense that local news will not open with an international story that the national newsdesks are breaking and devoting a lot of time/resource to.

But I will say that I do think US media does sometimes have somew strange priorities.

When I lived in New York (1998-1999) I only had terrestial TV and got about 10 or 11 channels. One of these was Fox News. One night I watched the programme and was astonished to see the main story being about a hawk in New Jersey that had gone missing for a few days.

Subsequent stories included a murder in NYC and the international news.

I didn't think the hawk story was news, certainly not TV worthy news, and it certainly should have been the last piece of news!

wojazz3

I love statements like "Don't you realize 50% of the people in the world have intelligence below average?".

Let's see, then what is the average? What test was used to determine the world average intelligence level? Did you mean average, median or mean? Where exactly did you get this statistic?

OK, I'm just being difficult.

Bitter

This may not be only a poor choice of priorities, but also an indication of the bias within the news. To some people in the media, Gay marriage is their current cause.

EnglishOne

Devastating news. My thoughts are with our Spanish friends.