Comments on: EDEC 262- Blog 3

By: Dan-Bee Kim

Dan-Bee Kim — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 05:10:38 +0000

I watched a Korean news about Haiti and it was interesting to find out that the news focused on the actors or the actresses who were donating and helping out for Haiti. The news especially talked mostly about the famous actors and actresses. I also noticed that in one of the news I watched (a Canadian or American, I’m not sure about), the news also talked about Angelina Jolie and Brad Bitt, that they donated a huge amount of money to help the incident in Haiti.

I also think that the music should be a sad tone, because it suits with the story. It is weird to have a happy song when the news is talking about a sad story. It also develops people to be more sad or to understand that the incident in Haiti is really severe. Like what Arielle said, the background music can encourage more people to help and donate for Haiti.

By: Arielle Strub

Arielle Strub — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 22:58:09 +0000

I am so proud of the countries helping out Haiti. It is true that the news is repeating itself – but that is always what happens when there is an unfortunate catastrophe. Also, the fact that so many countries have been helping out shows the world that there are more important things to focus on.

Something that really made me appreciate people helping out in Haiti were the individuals I read about who are involved; such as Doctors without Borders. It makes me so happy to know that there are people leaving their homes to go help out in a foreign place. One of my family friends from Israel left the other day to go help out at the Israeli Field Hospital in Haiti.

To comment on Jordan Elliott’s response about the Haitians not being shown on television, I just wanted to add that maybe they don’t want to be interviewed or have a camera crew surrounding them when they are in shock or terror. If you go online you can find many individual stories of Haitian survivors and what is happening.

The music that has been playing on tv during a Haiti reports seem appropriate for the current event. Laura Pietracupa made a good point; that it’s not like they should be playing Billy Joel or something up beat. Having sad music in the background will probably influence the media viewers to be upset and have pity for the tragedy that is going on, it will probably encourage more people to donate money or their time to helping Haiti.

So in response to Emilie Raymond, I also think that the diction in the news reports has been carefully selected to emphasize what a dramatic event this really is. And I think it is important that the news stations, celebrity talk shows, and interviews are on the same boat this time.

By: Erin Moffat

Erin Moffat — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 22:20:58 +0000

I find it interesting that during the benefit concert for Haiti, the stars kept saying that they were ‘helping people that could not help themselves’. I find that all of the media coverage is making Haiti out to be a weak country who have always needed the ‘saviours’ of the West.
Yes, it was a disaster and aid is necessary, however I find it interesting that only now when corporations and certain governments can benefit from the aftermath of this crisis, is aid being sent to Haiti. There has been extreme poverty in Haiti since they were the first country to gain their independence from slavery and colonialism. It makes me question the motives behind the immense donations and the ‘tied aid’ that is being sent to Haiti only now.
The benefit concert was not educating people on Haitian culture, they wre playing mainstream artists of the western world.
It’s also interesting that nowhere in the news coverage are they talking about the fact taht it was Venezuela and Cuba who wre the first responders to the disaster. It’s interesting to see who is taking the credit for all of this aid.

By: Jordan Elliott

Jordan Elliott — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:58:12 +0000

Since the earthquake in Haiti, there are various segments on newscasts daily concerning the disaster. Like Samantha, I too have noticed that many of these segments focus on the women and children being affected. I watched one segment that was about 5minutes long and it concerned the make-shift hospitals that are being used, and the only male featured throughout the entire thing was a doctor.

As Dr. Steinberg discussed in class this week, many of the Canadian newscasts focus on reporting stories concerning Canadians. Whether it’s through discussing Canadians who were in Haiti during the earthquake, how our society will change with Haitian immigrants coming to the country or adoption stories, many segments on Canadian channels focus on Canada and/or Canadians. One clip that I saw was about something not concerning Canada whatsoever but featured at the end were statistics about how many Canadians died during the disaster, how many Canadians are over in Haiti and such. I feel that there should be more of a focus on Haitian people although I understand that viewers are interested in Canadian stories because they can relate to them more easily.

The people speaking in most of the clips are not the Haitian people who were affected but doctors and other aid workers. If Haitian people are featured, it’s very short and the broadcaster usually fills in and speaks at the end or beginning. I think news stations should get out there and get more coverage of the people affected by this disaster.

By: Suzanne de Bellefeuille

Suzanne de Bellefeuille — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:44:13 +0000

I don’t usually watch the news because I find that watching the 11 o’clock news, just before going to bed, doesn’t allow me to sleep very well. However, this week I caught a few news casts about Haiti and it seems to me that they are all just repeating themselves. I understand that it is a tragic and very sad thing that happened to the Haitians but it is becoming very repetitive. The sad music that plays in the background is basically the same for all networks, the sad images of the children are the same, and all the networks seem to be asking for money all the same. There are so many ways to give money to help the Haitians but I can’t decide which organisation to give my money to because there are so many different ones.
I think instead of showing the tragedy as much, they should focus their attention on what has happened to help Haiti. For example, I was listening to the radio this past week and it was saying that even people with nothing are trying to help. Apparently, some homeless people have collected cans, saved their change and collected it to send to Haiti. I think in situations just like these, positive feedback is better than negative feedback. This kind of information makes me happy and proud to be able to help out and makes me want to help out just as much as others have. I guess you could call it healthy competition: “Who can help the most?” competition.

By: Victoria Koscielniak

Victoria Koscielniak — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:43:11 +0000

I was truly in shock when I first heard about Haiti. Normally, when I hear about a tragedy like this, it takes a while to sink in. I remember 9/11 quite clearly. I can precisely recall the tsunami, Katrina, suicide-bombers and how I’ve felt after hearing about them. None of these tragic events had a similar impact to the one I felt for Haiti. Not to say that I was insensitive to all those previous events; they all mortified me and it did take me quite some time to grasp their meaning, to understand that a lot of innocent people had died, that life is unfair. Haiti though, seemed to hit home. Oddly enough, I don’t have any close friends or relatives that are Haitian, nor do I know any people that have perished in earthquakes. Maybe it’s the geographic proximity (although Katrina was closer), or the thought that these people who didn’t have much at all to begin with had lost everything they could; their homes, their families and even their lives, broke my heart. I cried when I heard the news about Haiti, and truly felt useless for some time, but what startled me is the lack of coverage from the Haitians’ perspective in the media. Aside of all the sad music and predictable titles to add shock value to the whole situation, what I found truly disrespectful is that Haitians were victimized, and somewhat dehumanized in the sense that they were always portrayed as the “poor people”, mournfully wailing as they dig to find their children’s bodies, but were not given a voice or a chance to address the media. It is as if they aren’t considered worthy of media attention as individuals, but are reduced to the idea that they are all pretty much the same person; poor, man or woman, uneducated, pushed aside in the background while troops, students and other North Americans do the talking. I don’t really know what to think of this, maybe I am biased and as much as I do understand the importance of the media coverage of such a catastrophe, I can’t help but feel a little voyeuristic when I watch the news, and to be honest I do not like the portrayal that the media gives us of Haiti and Haitians in this tragedy.

By: Rachel Bradley

Rachel Bradley — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:41:41 +0000

Watching the media, I noticed that the reports fall into different categories. The first is “poor, suffering, effed up Haiti,” the next is “the problems with doing anything to help Haiti,” and after that, “how the earthquake in Haiti is affecting us.”

The “poor Haiti” pieces tend toward pictures of black people in bloody bandages or sitting under makeshift shelters and lots of rubble, but the stories are focused on the quotes of unpictured officials. The essential message of these stories is that “this country used to be awful, but now it’s terrible. Send money.” You have to figure this publicity is extremely degrading to the national feelings of Haitians who may or may not have the collective volition to rebuild.

The “problem with doing anything to help Haiti” are the reports that point out the myriad of difficulties that a Canadian’s dollar will encounter on its way to a better purpose. These are the pieces that point out the corruption of the governments, the slowness of the NGOs, the backed up airport, and generally shot infrastructure. It’s hard to tell whether the cynicism is good for anyone.

Then the “how the earthquake is affecting us” stories are usually the most accurately reported but the most obnoxious. Yahoo! Canada featured a story about how Haiti images are swamping nighttime news and traumatizing Canadian children. It reminded me of how censorship of disturbing images can slow the ending of a war and deflects a sense of reality during a crisis. It’s also an opportunity for publicists to pull out all the stops and remind people that they love celebrities and will make an investment in image with what it loses in donations to relief causes.

By: Luc Beaudry

Luc Beaudry — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:41:32 +0000

I have read all the comments above and I agree with most of them. I looked at the media coverage of the Haiti tragedy with great interest during the last week and what struck me the most was how some of the stories that were covered were all about the so-called generosity of the Canadians. These stories did not focus on the earthquake and its repercussions; they did not focus on telling us the facts which is the main purpose of all journalistic professions. Also, I wanted to point out that inevitably some of the media are playing the guilt card with us. Now, don’t make me wrong here. I feel really bad for the hatian people. What happened to them during the last twenty years is horrible! Dictator after dictator, corrupted government and natural catastrophe after natural catastrophe. You wonder if there is a God above, what those people did to deserve this.

I wanted to talk about to stories that I have seen druing this week. The first one was in the newspapers. It was about haiti children that were abducted during chaos that occured after the earthquake. Some people witnessed shady people bringing kids into airplaines and coming back without them. It seems these children were to be sold as slaves in europe or something like that. Now I don’t want to imagine what will happen to these kids. Can you imagine some of them were taken while they were at the hospital recovering from injuries after the earthquake. Humanity really has its loads of parasite!

I have seen the second story on LCN (Some kind of French CNN) They were showing how they delt with criminals during the time of crisis. Believe me it is rather simple. You steal = you get a bullet to the head. The journalist was interviewing people about these methods and almost every one was agreeing with the way these thiefs were dealt with. People were saying that it’s wath they deserved and that nobody wants thiefs as their neighbors. They were leaving the bodies in the street, because they did not have anywhere to put. The bodies were baking in the sun in the middle of the street and nobody cared. The journalist was even describing the smell. Now, keep in mind that the majority of these so called thiefs were steeling food to feed themselfs and their own family. So yeah, just shoot the poor guy who tries to survive!

By: Bianca LaBelle

Bianca LaBelle — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:08:53 +0000

After watching several Canadian news stories on Haiti this week, I noticed a significant difference when I was considering the “critical lens” that we discussed in class. Typically, when I watch the news I often get swept away with the news anchors, often just taking in the information without thinking twice. This week, I was watching the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake through a very critical perspective.
As I was watched a news segment on CBC, I noticed how the media really does get to us by relating the event to our life here in Canada. As Dr. Steinberg discussed in class, the media wants to instill fear in us. However, pertaining the situation in Haiti, the media is not trying to instill fear in us about earthquakes, but rather the media is tapping into our fear of losing one of our own, a Canadian. We have been conditioned (mainly through videos of third world countries on television) that people who don’t live here in North America simple die more. Our underlying attitude that we have about foreign, and often poor countries, is so disconnected from our comfortable lives here in Canada. Therefore, the media tries to focus on what they think the dominant culture cares about, their own kind.
Again, when I was watching CBC, the first image that appeared on the screen was the statistics of Canadians dead, missing and hurt. There was such a focus on the fact that 19 Canadians have been reported dead and that 213 have been unaccounted for. There was NO mention in this segment of how many Haitian people have died or been hurt. It’s terrible how the focus has been so distorted in order to get more sympathy and attention from Canadians.

By: Laura Pietracupa

Laura Pietracupa — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:05:24 +0000

This week on TV, it was nearly impossible not to watch footage of the disaster in Haiti. The man I’ve followed throughout this rough battle is Anderson Cooper. I’m almost certain that he’s been there shortly since the earthquake hit, and recently went most journalist went back to their families in the safety and comfort of their own homes, Anderson Cooper stayed behind. I’ve chosen to follow him because he seems to be the most honest journalist. I’ve seen many interviews he’s had with many different people torn from the families by the earthquake: men, women, children and the elderly. He is also speaking to the many doctors, nurses and staff sent from abroad to help those in need. I find he asks them questions in appropriate ways and in a very gentile, non-condescending manner. CNN has been following the disaster moments after the earthquake struck. Although many believe the media tries to suck in their viewers simply for ratings and popularity levels, I personally believe that in this case, they are focusing in on showing everyone watching how lucky they are, and what a horrific event this really was. I never really sat down and thought about the harsh impact of an earthquake, but after this one unfortunately struck, it immediately hit me how disastrous it can be. The music is very melancholy, glum and generally unhappy. Then again it’s not like they’ll be playing Billy Joel either. When something like this happens its only natural for them to choose to play this sort of music as a soundtrack to the peoples’ story. All of the mini video montages are in slow motion accompanied by sad, but true facts about the damage that the earthquake caused. Most TV stations have set the title of this unfortunate event as “Disaster in Haiti”. In a very dark way, some would argue that the media is milking this tragedy in their benefit, but I’d like to believe otherwise. Although this is doing great for ratings, I think that the media is trying to portray an honest image of what this disaster is really like. It’s kind of hard to exaggerate something so devastating and serious as this, because all of it really is painfully saddening and heartbreaking.

Many heart-wrenching stories have been broadcasted. Stories of lost parents and siblings, orphans and missing children have all been shown. The people speaking are often crying or in a state of panic, naturally.
Friday night CTV, CBC and Global hosted “Canada for Haiti”, a benefit to raise money to help those in need in Haiti. Complete with a star-studded cast, this telethon was determined to raise millions of dollars to donate to the people of Haiti. I think about 9 million was raised in Canada. The celebrity appearances really helped, I believe, and it’s good to see these people use their fame toward something meaningful. Following this telethon was another one, an American version called “Hope for Haiti”, once again filled with various celebrities and musicians. During this 2 hour special were many interviews with the people of Haiti and their stories, and some were very difficult to watch. There was a woman buried under the rubble and all you heard her saying was “dead or alive, tell my husband I love him”, which brought me instantly to tears.It’s just scary to think that this is all really happening, and that it’s not some sad movie. They had people like Julia Roberts, Steven Spielberg and Reese Witherspoon taking phone calls from the donators.his most certainly aided in raising the estimated 58 million dollars. These broadcasts were commercial free, which I thought was intriguing. Advertising agents would be a TON of money for their commercials to be shown, but it’s nice to know that when a disaster strikes, media selfishness can be put aside…for now anyways.