Ever since I joined Twitter, I find myself getting more and more news from there. I subscribe to Al Jazeera, the UN, other political organizations and NGOs, and 'randoms' (i.e. people/organizations not associated with news and/or politics). Needless to say, information travels fast on there.
I first found out about the attacks in Norway via Twitter, with Neil Gaiman commenting that #Oslo and #Norway seemed to not be news in the US. Curious, I went to CNN to find out more (and I'm still trying to keep up with all the news there). Both columns on the front page, which I would conflate to the 'above the fold' section of a broadsheet newspaper, were full of stories on the Oslo attacks, with live feeds, videos, iReports, and staff-produced articles.
Today, also on Twitter (because that's what I find myself doing with my near-unemployed life), I find out that Amy Winehouse died. For New York at least, the trends are all about her and other celebrities that died young, including the disturbing hashtag #27club (apparently lots of celebrities died at 27). Norway is still trending, but it's 9th on the list of 10 top trends for the region and the only one about yesterday's tragedy. CNN also is following this. Their left-side, smaller column is still full of information about Norway. The large, front-and-center column, however, is all about Amy Winehouse. The newspulse, which shows the top stories, lists stories about her as being #1 and #3 (moving up from the #4 spot that it was at no less than 10 minutes ago). The main article is listed as 'Breaking News.'
Time for me to get a little insensitive here (as some people will think). Amy Winehouse was a world-famous, talented singer with a loooooooooooooong history of drug problems. Pretty much every story about her career has always talked about her drug problems, and quite honestly, most stories about her weren't about her career (3 guesses what they were actually about). It is sad that she died; she held a lot of promise. But considering her lifestyle, it is not exactly 'breaking news' that she died. Someone who continues to abuse their body like that for years with no signs of wanting help is going to die much sooner rather than later. This is like being shocked that Steve Irwin was killed by a dangerous animal (although granted, I was shocked it wasn't by crocodile). When you live a certain lifestyle, the consequences are pretty much set in stone. You expect these things to happen.
In contrast, there was a real tragedy in Norway. The death toll from the two attacks already stands at 92, with 85 of them being from an attack at a youth camp. While details are still coming in, this already stands as a deeply violent and tragic event that may have implications in the current global culture of terror. The same article states the suspect may be a right-wing Christian fundamentalist fighting against a multicultural society. Studying this event can help us rethink the concept of terror and terrorism in an ever-changing world, and also, particularly in the US, think about our own country's right-wing violent fundamentalist groups that could pose a serious threat to the nation in coming years.
But no. What's more important than shaping the global discourse on terrorism is a dead celebrity whose death was wholly expected. Sad, yes, but nobody can say they were truly surprised by this. When will we get out of this sick fascination with the famous and their self-destructive tendencies and start paying attention to the things that can actually have a real impact on our own lives? We need to get our priorities straight, and also learn to leave people alone (because I'm pretty sure there's a lesson to be learned about paparazzi-hounding in the Winehouse story). It's all tragic and serious, but it's important. Americans can't be content to ignore the rest of the world, because whether we like it or not, we've already seen the rest of the world is coming to us.
I first found out about the attacks in Norway via Twitter, with Neil Gaiman commenting that #Oslo and #Norway seemed to not be news in the US. Curious, I went to CNN to find out more (and I'm still trying to keep up with all the news there). Both columns on the front page, which I would conflate to the 'above the fold' section of a broadsheet newspaper, were full of stories on the Oslo attacks, with live feeds, videos, iReports, and staff-produced articles.
Today, also on Twitter (because that's what I find myself doing with my near-unemployed life), I find out that Amy Winehouse died. For New York at least, the trends are all about her and other celebrities that died young, including the disturbing hashtag #27club (apparently lots of celebrities died at 27). Norway is still trending, but it's 9th on the list of 10 top trends for the region and the only one about yesterday's tragedy. CNN also is following this. Their left-side, smaller column is still full of information about Norway. The large, front-and-center column, however, is all about Amy Winehouse. The newspulse, which shows the top stories, lists stories about her as being #1 and #3 (moving up from the #4 spot that it was at no less than 10 minutes ago). The main article is listed as 'Breaking News.'
Time for me to get a little insensitive here (as some people will think). Amy Winehouse was a world-famous, talented singer with a loooooooooooooong history of drug problems. Pretty much every story about her career has always talked about her drug problems, and quite honestly, most stories about her weren't about her career (3 guesses what they were actually about). It is sad that she died; she held a lot of promise. But considering her lifestyle, it is not exactly 'breaking news' that she died. Someone who continues to abuse their body like that for years with no signs of wanting help is going to die much sooner rather than later. This is like being shocked that Steve Irwin was killed by a dangerous animal (although granted, I was shocked it wasn't by crocodile). When you live a certain lifestyle, the consequences are pretty much set in stone. You expect these things to happen.
In contrast, there was a real tragedy in Norway. The death toll from the two attacks already stands at 92, with 85 of them being from an attack at a youth camp. While details are still coming in, this already stands as a deeply violent and tragic event that may have implications in the current global culture of terror. The same article states the suspect may be a right-wing Christian fundamentalist fighting against a multicultural society. Studying this event can help us rethink the concept of terror and terrorism in an ever-changing world, and also, particularly in the US, think about our own country's right-wing violent fundamentalist groups that could pose a serious threat to the nation in coming years.
But no. What's more important than shaping the global discourse on terrorism is a dead celebrity whose death was wholly expected. Sad, yes, but nobody can say they were truly surprised by this. When will we get out of this sick fascination with the famous and their self-destructive tendencies and start paying attention to the things that can actually have a real impact on our own lives? We need to get our priorities straight, and also learn to leave people alone (because I'm pretty sure there's a lesson to be learned about paparazzi-hounding in the Winehouse story). It's all tragic and serious, but it's important. Americans can't be content to ignore the rest of the world, because whether we like it or not, we've already seen the rest of the world is coming to us.
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