Victoria on Fire

Feb 08, 2009 19:57

The bushfires and the news response to them makes me sick ( Read more... )

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Comments 11

thomasvye February 8 2009, 09:04:24 UTC
I found the footage very distressing. :( I hope you are OK.

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icefalcon February 8 2009, 09:54:10 UTC
I'm fine - I live on the bay in the South Eastern suburbs, and all the fires are inland in rural Victoria. Melbourne and the suburbs were never in danger, but I have family (luckily, they aren't in any of the fire zones) and friends who have family in outer areas.

Hopefully the fatalities stop climbing soon, but either way it's going to take a while before it gets sorted out who's fine and who isn't. :/

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thomasvye February 8 2009, 14:49:40 UTC
I have been watching the news coverage. About the temperatures; unbelievable. I said I would never go to Japan in August again because I couldn't stand the heat and that was only in the 30s! :/ I can't imagine how people are coping. It's a terrible tragedy.

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notalwaysweak February 8 2009, 09:47:20 UTC
It makes me so angry that people think this is gawk-worthy. IT'S FUCKING LETHAL, YOU FUCKHEADS, GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY OF THE FIREYS AND LET THEM DO WHAT THEY CAN.

'Scuse my capslocking, but people like this make me sick.

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icefalcon February 8 2009, 09:56:24 UTC
They are disgusting. It's terrible that the only thing that gets a certain kind of people off their asses is a chance to look at someone else's misery. GO HELP OR GO HOME.

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jashasha February 8 2009, 09:58:03 UTC
I saw that chick you were talking about when Channel 9 stuck the camera in her face when she was too devistated to talk - we remarked on how bad it was here because it just seemed like such an obvious thing that some editor should have picked up - who the hell doesn't realise that that person clearly doesn't want the camera in their face? It just seemed like a blatant attempt to get the audience upset.

I also hated the music they played as they cut to ads, they'd be like "after the break, we'll show more people who are devisted" and play this horrible music where it was like they were trying to add suspense or something. I'm like "Dudes! We're already as emotionally invested as we can be - this is happening IN OUR STATE. If that doesn't make us want to stay on this channel, CHEESY MUSIC ISN'T GOING TO DO SHIT."

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icefalcon February 8 2009, 10:21:18 UTC
The cheesy music is totally part of the whole 'let's present this as an entertainment package' problem. Stop sensationalising the news, please. The horrible stuff that's happened stands on its own, it doesn't need another 'heartbreaking human angle' that just exploits the human.

It reminds me of that journalist who took a picture of a starving Sudanese girl with vultures hanging around waiting for her to die, and it won a Pulitzer - but he LEFT THE GIRL TO DIE after taking the picture.

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sarahofcroydon February 8 2009, 10:06:36 UTC
Another awful part of it is the ads they play in the newsbreaks, for luxury homes and cars. Disgusting.

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icefalcon February 8 2009, 10:14:53 UTC
You're completely right. You'd think they'd scan through the advertising for tasteless juxtapositions like that. There was something similar in the paper this morning - bushfire news, and one of the ads on the page was for a luxury romantic getaway. I'm sure someone who has just lost their partner is raring to go on one of those.

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stylishkiller February 8 2009, 10:59:08 UTC
The media is really insensitive - I'm really devastated that instead of attempting to help the victims of the bushfires by calling on the community to donate blood / money / other means of helping they are further traumatising them just for content.

As for people driving into the affected areas for a gawk, they just don't deserve to live.

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