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Because what happened in Boston could happen anywhere. What happened in West, TX could happen at, well another fertilizer factory.
Or any other industrial site where something flammable is handled. There are many places like this scattered across the U.S., so what happened in West, TX could happen "anywhere", too!
I think they will start covering it now. People were worried that more terrorist attacks could happen. Now that the country knows this was home grown terror and not AlQueada it will lose focus. I've noticed this morning more coverage already in TX. It really is devastating.
I honestly think that the media did a good job considering the circumstances, they did what the media does, show breaking news. First there was breaking news about the Boston bombings, then breaking news about West, Texas, and then again breaking news back in Boston. That is how they showed it too.
Both events were greatly horrible and tragic and both deserve media coverage, but it's understandable that something that is still capable of putting more lives in danger is given more media attention. I think a thread like this will just lead to bickering, when in reality everyone feels bad for both cities.
It could be argued that the carnage in Texas was a crime- a crime of turning against regulation/inspection, a crime by the powers-that-be related to inspecton and safety regs, which had been ignored for decades. Literally. But like one person said, it's not sexy and doesn't follow a narrative following a larger event like 9/11 or the ensuing Iraq invasion. Who remembers the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire? That's the narrative.
Intent matters. It not really rare for a factory to blow up or accidents to happen. It another for the Boston Marathon to blow up and for a city to respond in such a way. It's not wonder it's the bigger news story.
I believe that if the tragedy in West, Texas had happened during a time when such, frankly, spectacular news events as the whole Boston bomber craziness, were NOT going on simultaneously, it would have received much more media attention.
Sorry for the tortured sentence. I'll try again.
The explosion in West was overshadowed by bombs and manhunts and car chases and shootouts and horrific photos of people with missing limbs, as well as FBI announcements, photos of the perps being released, pleas to the public for information, etc.
I live in Texas and I would like to see more coverage about the firefighters who lost their lives and about exactly how this tragedy came to take place. I believe that now that the Boston bombing suspect is in custody, we will see more media attention focused on West. I hope so.
The timing was what threw the media attention off West - nothing more.
I watched from a hotel this week and the news coverage of Boston was just the same information for on a hours on end. It did not seem to matter who was covering it.
The whole bypassing of Texas just reconfirmed that journalism is dead, that and the fact AP’s illegal alien crap.
Because what happened in Boston could happen anywhere. What happened in West, TX could happen at, well another fertilizer factory.
The Boston tragedy begs the question "what next?" What happened in TX is certainly a tragedy but nobody's sitting around nervous that factories are going to spontaneously explode.
Which is kind of unfortunate. Since more people are killed by factories spontaneously exploding, then are killed by terrorists.
Why are the Boston Marathon bombings and their aftermath, which have left four people dead, receiving so much media attention whereas the fertilizer explosion in the town of West, Texas, where at least twelve bodies have been recovered, receiving so little in comparison?
Consider this - West, Texas has a population of about 2,800. The Boston Metropolitan area is at least 50 times that. Now, not all the people killed in the Texas town lived there. But proportionally, the 12 deaths in West would be like 600 in the Boston Marathon bombings! In addition, the community could very well have lost most of its firefighters in that explosion. Suppose most of Boston's firefighters died at one time?
And West is not exactly isolated - it is next to a busy Interstate, and major airports are nearby, so journalists from across the nation could get there easily.
Of course what happened in Boston is a tragedy. But people in a small Texas town are also suffering greatly and shouldn't be forgotten.
I've been following both stories at the same time, and honestly I don't see a lot of news coming out of West, Texas to cover. Even looking in the local media. Dallas seems to be covering it the best. But even basic information, such as the casualty counts, seems to be hard to come by. The only news the last couple of days seems to be mostly focusing on the record of the plant, and some pictures of the aftermath mostly from great distance. Is anyone in West, Texas even talking to the media? I kind of don't think so. If I was a news director, and nobody wanted to talk us, I'd probably move along to the next story too.
Most news stories are just spoon fed to the media by various sources. In Boston you have the Boston PD, the FBI, the Mayor, the Governor, even the President of the United States along with just common people all wanting to give their views about the story. Who is doing that for West, Texas?
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