China: Where's the disaster relief blogging?
Apparently internet video is huge and growing in China these days. Yes, people want to see video. Interested in citizen reporting that's relevant but perhaps apolitical? How about the weather?
Back to 56.com, now the top Chinese video sharing website. Like Flickr, the space it provides for reader involvement is often used—abused?—for larger discussions. Looking at 56.com's current events channel, the fifth post from the top contains video, photos and personal accounts uploaded by users. Is it blogger coverage of the massive destruction seen all over southern China—where, from Guangzhou, 56.com is based—earlier this month? No, these videos, photos and accounts, although posted this past week, all date back to last summer when Saomai, the strongest typhoon to pass through China since the Communist Party seized control [zh], ripped through the country's coastal east and south.
So where to find live disaster blogging from this past month's catastrophe? This blogger has looked but still doesn't know. Is Chinese media coverage sufficient? Project Diaster's video blog seems to only bring us training videos and clips from old TV shows. So what's the problem?
6 comments
John,
We are having a hard time even getting people to tag our charity site, blogofdreams.com, as a favorite on Technorati so we can attract advertisers. We ask for no money, just a few seconds of time…
I see the lack of blogger response as symptomatic of the frustration felt by many that what they write will have little or no impact.
The western media has effectively demonized China to the point that we can no longer see the ordinary Chinese citizen suffering in these mega-disasters. Add to that China’s face-saving lack of reporting, the immensity of growing hardships on the rural poor and the world 9to include China) is becoming emotionally desensitized to grief and hence, increasingly hard to motivate to action.
Another of my students, aged 22, died this week from Leukemia. The school did not even pass on a sympathy note to parents. Five of his classmates are similarly afflicted and without resources for treatment. There are a lot of people here losing hope and a lot of bloggers removing their black armbands because nobody seems to notice them anymore.
I am proud of folks like you, Danwei, The Humanaught and others who continue to care.
“The western media has effectively demonized China to the point that we can no longer see the ordinary Chinese citizen suffering in these mega-disasters”
what nonsense. what utter nonsense.
Instead of just saying “nonsense”, how about offering up an argument to show where he’s wrong?
don’t need to. it is self evident.
it is a realization.