Friday, March 11, 2011

A Response to the M8.9 Japanese Earthquake

Our thoughts go out to all those suffering in Japan, once again the epicenter for a major earthquake.

This one register at 8.9 on the Richter Scale, the largest magnitude in Japan's history.

For once, it was heartening and enlightening to see the news media around the world connected on documenting not only the damage and trauma, but also the heroics of soldiers and civilians taking every occasion to rescue those who are hurt, lost, or dead.

I enjoy the fact that news outlets are willing to rely on the current reports issued by the NHK, Japan's main news organ. For once, the connectedness of today's media is producing a more wholesome outcome: providing essential news to bystanders on the other side of the world who would otherwise have no clue as to the tragedy afflicting the Japanese.

It's unfortunate that it requires natural disasters of this magnitude in order to train the media's focus on more consequential events.

Let's hope that this trend will lead viewers, commentators, and analysts to ponder more weighty issues, like how better to safeguard communities from major natural disasters; how to recognize good work done by average people in difficult times; or even the more resources means which individuals can use to connect and support one another, as opposed to using media as a means of trashing and humiliating one another.

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