i tend to check cnn's website frequently throughout the day. i'm not entirely sure how i developed this habit or why exactly it persists. it could be because i find it worthwhile to see the birth of so many fabrications. another reason could be because they write some of the most unintentionally funny shit on the internet.
today i came across this article about anderson cooper rescuing a young boy from a "looting riot". (before the boy gets hit - which isn't shown - all i see is some slight rumpling and a guy that slips a little on some cardboard.) now, i am all for the protection of uninvolved parties, but the extreme level of self-congratulation and the terrible misconceptions behind the account are simply maddening.
to get a full sense of it there are a few things to take into account here:
1. the article - which is titled "Anderson Cooper assists injured boy" - is currently at the top of the "Latest Haiti news" section.
2. in another cnn article, haiti's infrastructure - see: our infrastructure for haiti - is blamed for delaying aid. (which, as i am typing this, the word "infrastructure" was removed from the headline.)
3. this quote from anderson, "An American businessman named Tony who owns two stores nearby barricaded one street to keep looters away. He had armed the two Haitian police with automatic weapons, and they were assisting him, but they were not able to control anything beyond their barricade."
so, what we have is a large population who cannot receive necessary items locally because of an already dominant foreign presence and are forced to accept the terms behind an even larger foreign presence. terms which will most likely marginalize haitians even more than they already were. but hey, anderson cooper's now got one heck of a vacation slideshow.
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2 comments:
I have the same CNN addiction. The news articles and coverage aren't usually worth reading, yet I feel I have to check cnn.com at least once per day. I guess I just want to see if anything really significant has happened in the world and that's the quickest place to go. I go elsewhere for actual information though.
It also helps to know what other people are reading and talking about, even if its completely worthless as news. Though I'm getting to the point where I just don't care enough...
i am always on that verge of not caring, but at the same time i think it's fairly crucial to see the product of a company that essentially forms the way the world is perceived, even if it is so contrary to the actual world.
i also like seeing a respected news network act like the mutual friend of celebrity couples.
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