Friday 25 March 2011

Gratuitous reporting

Having had a go at foreign media, the time has come for giving NHK a serve.
They have unpleasant tendency to gratuitous voyeurism of human misery that is rearing its very ugly head.

Each bulletin of last night's news ran the story of  a man from Tokyo going back home to the Sanriku.  Yesterday was the first day since the tsunami that the ferries were running to the small islands off Ichinoseki. The man was taking a ferry across to see his mother who still lives in his hometown on an island off the coast to tell her that ten of their immediate family members were dead or missing.  

NHK filmed him on the boat across and arriving at the island.   A voice over comes on  saying "somehow everyone on the island except his mother already knew that the family members were dead".  And then proceed to film him telling his mother....

It was ghastly.  As if losing most of her family isn't enough suffering...

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