Ruaraidh Gilmour | World News Editor
Friday the 13th of November saw the worst terror attack on European soil since the Madrid bombings in 2004. Muslim extremists with ties to ISIS carried out horrific attacks outside the Stade De France, the Bataclan music venue and a Parisian restaurant. The events were broadcasted live all over the world, media outlets worked around the clock to provide every piece of information as it happened.
The media was able to portray a clear image of the events. Unfortunately, this is not always the case with Western media. Extremist-provoked attacks on African civilians occur often and it normally receives minimal coverage. I doubt you were aware that three months ago 147 Kenyan students were massacred by the Islamic terror group ‘al-Shabab’.
The killings were all too similar to that of the Paris attacks. The insurgents stormed the university, surprising the students. One survivor explained that the terrorist said ‘we came to kill or to be killed.’ This statement could be compared to the attitude of the two gunmen at the Bataclan, who killed 89 people before blowing themselves up as the French police moved in on them.
After the Paris attacks the world has been on high alert. There have been scares in Hannover, Paris and even London has had a reported attack stopped at its planning stages by GCHQ and MI5. The recent attacks have highlighted that we live in a very unstable time. You would have to think back to the Cold War to remember such a volatile period. However, the world has been in a period of instability for sometime, years before the Paris attacks – why are we only starting to notice it now?
Since 9/11 there have been over 30,000 religious extremist aggravated attacks. Most attacks tend to occur in the Middle East and Africa, where there are many unaccepted religious minorities. The media simply does not report on acts of terrorism, even a fraction as well as they did the Charlie Hebdo and Paris attacks. It’s obvious that they cannot have a reporter stationed in every country due to the radical lawlessness some of the countries experience. Nevertheless, Western media sources should report on the events and highlight that terrorism is a growing issue as it is now an immediate threat to our lives.
It also raises the question: does the media only care about Western lives? I think, sadly, it is the case. Friday the 13th of November and the days that followed evoked so much humility and sorrow that is often lacking from Western media. In contrast, the attack on the Kenyan students only received one short factual report from the BBC. It is apparent that although the Kenyan massacre was more fatal, the media didn’t care for the story as it did not occur in a developed continent such as Europe or North America.
