Between the Lines

I didn't want to write last night. Well actually that isn't true. Everything I did write just sounded... wrong.

How can I write small personal things in the light of world events?

I watched the news last night and I have been watching it this morning.

News is not free, not exactly. Information flows and diplomatic ties affect the news. Eye witness accounts flooded youtube and twitter but the junk information makes these hard to find. I tried as i watched the news. For every relevant tweet it seemed there was 5 irrelevant ones, mostly repeated pledges to give money (not that I have a problem with that, but that is a separate information flow).

Watching the news on the 24 hour news channel, it became obvious that the news organisations suffer from the same issues. The same pictures over and over again. From things the news reporters were saying it was clear that many of these came from agencies.

I also began to see that what was being said was just as important as what wasn't. Little has been said about the effects of the tsunami on the rest of the pacific rim. Digging reveals that the waves were not too big. They have caused damage, a lot of damage but because of advance warnings, people were not generally stood around close enough to the sea to be in danger. People have died elsewhere - no idea how many but not very many, not in comparison....

Most of the pictures and recent information seems to be flowing out of Tokyo which appears to have not suffered as badly. Further north the story is different. The images are from the air, with little information attached to each one. Few images are from the ground and the reports almost have an anecdotal feel to them, they are just one liners.....

Japan is a proud and honourable country. A technologically advanced country. I fear for the North, I really do. This lack of true information is not a good thing. I understand the respect for Japan and the responsible attitude of the news organisationd for not inciting panic, but things are very, very bad.

There was also the developing story of the nuclear plant at Fukushima. As I went to bed last night, I told F that I thought it was very, very bad. The News people obviously did too, otherwise they would not have been reporting it. But it was a little story last night, fueled by their understanding of Japan and what wasn't being said but what was quietly being done, for example as the area of evacuation kept slowly being increased. And that beyond the area of evacuation, way beyond, there are roadblocks not letting people in. The rumours that the US was flying in additional coolant, a country that would only ask for help if it desperately needed it....

In a way I was not surprised to wake up and see the pictures of the explosion this morning. Sad. terrified for the poor people there. Absolutely terrified.


What other things, other stories of horror, are not spoken? The news organisation works much much better than it used to. The web is full of information but weeding through the static is nearly impossible it seems. Reading between the lines..... You have to read between the lines to understand significance. I am not sure how good I am at this. I bet the news reporters could tell us a story or two..... if they were prepared to mix semi-fiction and hearsay with fact and their gut feelings.....