Imagine this, you and your friends are coming back from a school field trip, talking and laughing, when your bus collides with a car and loses control. Then, your bus falls into an irrigation canal.
That is what happened to dozens of people in the southern Turkish city of Osmaniye. At least 14 people have been killed and 26 injured in the crash. Six of the deceased from the Dec. 6 crash were reported to be children.
When I saw this on the Turkish news, I felt sad at the loss of so many lives. The footage from the incident looked frightening as well.
But have you heard about this? I feel like even if you did, it took a back seat in the news to a terrorist attack that took place outside of a sporting stadium in Istanbul, Turkey on Sat.
The media loves to cover terrorist activity, but not the everyday tragedies.
Sure, it is possible that there is terrorist activity outside of a stadium — that’s possible. However, it is more likely to be hurt in a car accident than it is in a terrorist attack.
Think about it. You are morelikely to die in a vehicle collision than you are in a terrorist attack.
But the news doesn't want you to think this. In an article called "The Odds of Dying" by Live Science, "Everyone dies of something, but after slogging through the daily news, you'd think most people die from terrorism, shark attacks, and gas explosions." The article then goes on to say that heart disease is the number one killer in the United States — yes, heart disease!
It can be argued whether the media does this intentionally or not, but it's been seen before that they’ll do anything to increase their ratings. Because at the end of the day, they’re a business, and for better or worse, their business thrives on showing you what will grab your immediate attention.
I’m not saying don’t watch the news, I’m just saying watch it with your eyes and ears open —keep an open mind as you hear news. Keep in mind that their coverage may not reflect the entirety of what is going on in the world.