If a tree falls in a forest, and there is no one to hear it, does it make a sound?
I am pretty sure trees fall quite often, yet it is not something that I worry about. But, what would happen if a tree falling – like terrorism – were reported across every news outlet constantly for days and days? Imagine if we walked into stores and instead of terrorism, we saw newspapers depicting falling trees – the devastation caused, interviews with survivors and witnesses and experts discussing all the potential ways that trees could fall in future. We would probably become quite concerned about the issue.
This is exactly what happens with the media whenever something ‘news worthy’ occurs.
Recently, in the UK we suffered a terrorist attack. In truth it was quite minor with a handful of deaths. Now, I am in no way am I dismissing the trauma to those concerned but we need to keep this event in perspective.
The reality check
In 2015, Europe suffered 175 fatalities from terrorism [1]. In 2015 Europe suffered 26,000 road traffic fatalities [2]. Furthermore, according to research published in the Lancet it takes 29 minutes for 175 children to die from malnutrition in this world [3] – that’s 10 seconds per child death.
The media is responsible for propagating the irrational fear of terrorist attacks. The reality is that the world faces far greater problems. So please, let’s keep perspective. Even in the face of the hysterical publicity of events that, in reality, are not a major risk.
What concerns me
I vow to continue my life without fear of terrorism, however I do also vow to something to help poverty in this world. Something that kills far more people than terrorism.
Sources
[1] http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/specialist/statistics_en
[2] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22935692
[3] http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/sites/roadsafety/files/pdf/observatory/trends_figures.pdf
An Accidental Anarchist 