I don't think it's so much about who's life is worth more than whose, but people dying in Iraq is not particularly new information. There's a war on there; you expect casualties. The Va Tech thing is sort of a surprise, so it's "more newsworthy."

... and I'm positive there are more people dying on Aids each day in Africa than in VT and Bagdad together.

The news measure importance in death_toll/distance. "Distance" happens to be a fuzzy measure, as 20 American civil workers killed in Bagdad would sure have a different distance to an US audience than 20 Iraqi civilists.

That's tough, but that's how news work.

"Why is a Virginia Tech student's life worth more to me than an Iraqi's?"

It's a little thing called identity. You're an American. Probably a white Christian American. You relate to people like you. It's natural and there's nothing wrong with it.

America is not an idea. It's not a Universal Truth. It's a nation with boundaries and real citizens and a unique culture and common language. It's worth preserving. Especially to those who are of its historical majority heritage. Because when it's gone, it's gone.

Multiculturalism is a liberal lie and it will destroy us. It will destroy the West; Britain has nearly completed its own suicide.

It's not wrong to be white. It's not wrong to be Christian. We need a place too.

Iraq is in a state of war. Virginia Tech isn't.

BTW, I do remember seeing a (slight) mention of the bombings on CNN's homepage.

As a guy who used to teach media i could go on and on at length, but will try and keep it short. In part, the media coverage you're seeing is actually more based around the fact of media ownership and the difference between domestic and foreign events.

Not to mention the sensationalism that can be spun out of this. Wait for the next month where some kind of moral panic will ensue: What kind of country do we have where kids can buy guns. At least one xenophobic story will come out etc.

> Monday's events have left me more then a little bit shaken

Why?

"Why" may seem like a silly question, but how many students died of natural causes and accidents across the USA in the year prior to the shootings? I'd be willing to bet it would be more than 33, but you weren't feeling shaken before.

On the domestic stories getting more coverage thing, there is an american news program called "World News Tonight". I've seen in twice, and I think in both programs combined there was only a single story that wasn't about america or about americans abroad.

I don't think it's a matter of importance, or culture, at least when it comes down to a personal reaction. We can't do much for people all the way around the world, but we can certainly do a hell of a lot for the people that are near us. This becomes less true with charities and the internet, but let's talk about it in a basic human nature sense.

We can't take care of everyone in the world, and even if we could we couldn't do a good job of it. We have to be responsible for the people near us. It's just that so many people seem to use that as an excuse to just not care at all. I think most of those people were raised in fairly unloving environments, surrounded with comments of "life isn't fair" and "if you don't look after yourself, nobody will."

Weak and wrong argument; Flat need not mean there are no walls (which again are vertically flat!)
The article reads:
"We maintain this fiction that our world is becoming more and more flat, and yet... Why is a Virginia Tech student's life worth more to me than an Iraqi's?"
Who says so? There were many deaths of innocent Iraqis in Saddam's regime and it was as important as any other deaths and so US went to nail down the murderer & the regime - when the illness is at an extreme stage, operations performed lasts longer and more blood loss does happen;
Correct me if I am wrong.

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Hello! Good site!

Thank you!