The lack of coverage of the world's deadliest terror group, Boko Haram, in Australia - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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#14801130
The Australian mainstream media generally reports on matters of terrorism that directly impacts Australia as a country and Australians as a people or more generally terrorist acts and threats of terrorism that impacts the West and Westerners. A good example of this is the lack of coverage of terrorism that impacts non-Westerners very little but impacts other peoples as in the case of Boko Haram which is the world; deadliest terror group operating on the African continent. At face value it may appear that the mainstream Australian media or Western media may value the life of Australians or Westerners more than the lives of people living in Africa however on a closer analysis it may be seen that the media in a capitalist world tailors their reporting to cater for domestic consumption which will bring in more revenue and profits. The nature of corporations is to seek profit and expand business operations which could only be pursued by satisfying the demand of the market in terms of selling the goods or services to the masses. In short without consistent accumulation of profit any type of business will not survive and will go bankrupt. It is in this sense the corporate media reflects the biases and vested interests of the corporate world and is an extension of the established economic order. This is the economic analysis.

The political analysis is that in the case of the lack of coverage of the world most murderous terror organisation which is Boko Haram the mainstream media’s reporting on terrorism operates as a tool of promoting the self-interest realist policies of the state and hence the media focuses on terror groups that directly impacts Western governments. No doubt the media reporting in Nigeria would be much more focused on the atrocities and activities of Boko Haram than the murders of Westerners by ISIS or Al Qaeda. However my critique of the mainstream media in the West is that given the fact that freedom of speech and freedom of the press are the bedrock of the political system of Western democracies the mainstream media should not simply pass down elastic abstract concepts such as “the national interest’ and “national security” as defined by the political elite unchallenged. Since it is the political elite that formulates what the national interest is and instils in the minds of the public what is being done in the name of the people according to the national interests it is the responsibility of a free press to help the public to participate in the negotiations and discussions of what the national interest should be rather than simply pass down ready-made expedient definitions of what constitutes the national interests. If the mainstream media gives enough focus to the atrocities of Boko Haram then the public would be aware that most victims of modern global terrorist groups are non-white and non-Westerners. This would help correct the wrong perception in the minds of the masses in the West that terrorists are only out of get Westerners. Given the fact that 21st century terror groups are mainly non-white and non-Western paying enough attention to the victims of terror in non-Western countries which the most preponderance of terror atrocities are committed will help bridge the us vs them mentality that is currently being exploited by populist demagogues in many Western countries.
#14801138
sabatheil wrote:... on a closer analysis it may be seen that the media in a capitalist world tailors their reporting to cater for domestic consumption which will bring in more revenue and profits.

This is exactly what it does. Even the slant of its reporting approximates the profit maximizing condition (Gentzkow and Shapiro 2010).

That paper - notable to the below arguments - also found that the politics of political incumbents had no impact on the slant delivered. Though Western foreign-policy has always been quite centered (Trump is doing what Clinton campaigned on, whether he likes it or not, for example) so that doesn't make too much of a difference to you argument if you ask me.

sabatheil wrote:It is in this sense the corporate media reflects the biases and vested interests of the corporate world and is an extension of the established economic order.

Which reflects the biases and vested interests of Western consumers, who are notably egoistic (perhaps justifiably; I am going to avoid getting into that).

I don't think we should choose to blame capitalism over our historical disinterest, if not indifference, towards the experiences of developing communities. You can take the neo-Gramscian approach here and suggests that the biases and vested interests of consumers are imposed on them by hegemonic elites (you do) but on this issue most people recognize that substantial numbers of the victims are non-White and non-Westerners (re: the European refugee crisis) and Western consumers still display a broad indifference to their predicament.

sabatheil wrote:The political analysis is that in the case of the lack of coverage of the world most murderous terror organisation which is Boko Haram the mainstream media’s reporting on terrorism operates as a tool of promoting the self-interest realist policies of the state and hence the media focuses on terror groups that directly impacts Western governments.

I don't think that you need to frame a narrative of media-elite collusion to develop the suggestion that Westerners care more about themselves, and events that might impact them, than non-Westerners. Even still, left-Liberal media-outlets like Vox and The Atlantic have more articles printed on Boko Haram than SocialistWorker.Org and The Militant (who, whilst, unarguably operate in a capitalist system and are driven by capitalist incentives, has neither an editorial board or readership likely imprinted by elite consensus).

In fact, the Atlantic's top article is, 'The World's Deadliest Terrorist Group Isn't ISIS: It's Boko Haram'.

You can of course blame capitalism here. Perhaps the SocialistWorker would be printing much more on Boko Haram if it didn't have to run a profit - unlike the Cuban state, Granma, which doesn't care much about ISIL either - but then I am skeptical that the media is an appropriate tool here. The issue is borne of a broader indifference to people unlike us, and more headlines about these people probably won't change that.

sabatheil wrote:However my critique of the mainstream media in the West is that given the fact that freedom of speech and freedom of the press are the bedrock of the political system of Western democracies the mainstream media should not simply pass down elastic abstract concepts such as “the national interest’ and “national security” as defined by the political elite unchallenged.

To sum, From time-to-time the media don't, and Western consumers just don't care, so they stop.

---

Edit: Obviously I am referring to American sources but I would be surprised if their situation didn't approximate Australia's.
#14801178
A good example of this is the lack of coverage of terrorism that impacts non-Westerners very little but impacts other peoples as in the case of Boko Haram which is the world; deadliest terror group operating on the African continent. At face value it may appear that the mainstream Australian media or Western media may value the life of Australians or Westerners more than the lives of people living in Africa however on a closer analysis it may be seen that the media in a capitalist world tailors their reporting to cater for domestic consumption which will bring in more revenue and profits.


Probably it's because of the lack of knowledge on Africa in general among Aussie journalists. The Aussie media doesn't cover international issues particularly well and I don't know how many Aussie journalists actually have travelled to Africa. If you read through international news sections in Aussie papers, you can only find news stories from AP or Reuters.



Given the fact that 21st century terror groups are mainly non-white and non-Western paying enough attention to the victims of terror in non-Western countries which the most preponderance of terror atrocities are committed will help bridge the us vs them mentality that is currently being exploited by populist demagogues in many Western countries.


BBC or ABC News do a much better job and you should stop relying on your local media for international news. The Aussie media is prone to overemphasise the white identity too much, compared to the mainstream media in most Western countries. A liberal person like yourself is badly affected by biases in the media and many Aussies wrongly presume that they represent the West as defenders of Western civilisation.

Nigeria's militant Islamist group Boko Haram - which has caused havoc in Africa's most populous country through a wave of bombings, assassinations and abductions - is fighting to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state.
Boko Haram promotes a version of Islam which makes it "haram", or forbidden, for Muslims to take part in any political or social activity associated with Western society.
This includes voting in elections, wearing shirts and trousers or receiving a secular education.
Boko Haram regards the Nigerian state as being run by non-believers, regardless of whether the president is Muslim or not - and it has extended its military campaign by targeting neighbouring states.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13809501
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