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| Sago
Mine Tragedy Raises Many Questions |
Posted:
1.31.06 | |
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Lindsay Sobotka, a junior at Weir High School in Weirton, West Virginia, offers
her perspective on the media response to a mine accident that killed 12 miners. Printer-friendly
versions: PDF | |
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Two days had passed, and nothing but waiting, praying, and watching had occurred
in a small church outside of the Sago Mine in Tallmansville, West Virginia. On
January 2nd, thirteen miners had been trapped under ground after an unexplained
explosion. After a 41-hour vigil, a miracle seemed to have happened. Church bells
began to ring, and people screamed, "The miners are alive!" Joy, celebration,
and relief took over the families that had been slowly losing hope as the days
and hours passed. This euphoria continued when the first miner, 27-year
old Randal McCloy, was retrieved from the mine and rushed to the hospital. | |
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| Hopes
lifted only to be dashed | |
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The crowd anticipated seeing the next miner return from the mine alive. But
these feelings did not last. Soon, grief, anger, and resentment replaced
joy, celebration, and happiness. The overjoyed families soon found out that the
information they had received was false. McCloy ended up being the only
miner of thirteen to survive. Ben Hatfield, chief executive of the mine's
parent company, continued to allow the families to believe this lie far after
he knew it to be false. The families and citizens of Tallmansville were
distressed and outraged. Viewers around the nation who had witnessed the
announcement at midnight on January 3rd were relieved, but awoke to the shock
of the second announcement the following morning. The families of the deceased
are now considering taking legal actions against Hatfield and the communication
department of the mill. | |
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| Media
intrudes | |
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However, they are not the only people who have done wrong in this horrible
accident. Blame can also be put upon the media. For example, on www.cnn.com,
there is a video titled "Images of Grief". This video clip shows the families'
roller coaster of emotions in those three happy and grief-filled hours. CNN
shows the families overcome with joy, then mourning over their loved ones.Is it
appropriate for these raw emotions to be made so readily accessible to the public?
These are people's lives and emotions, and I highly doubt they want the
rest of America watching them mourn during their time of grief. Additionally,
www.cnn.com has a photo gallery titled "Family Devastation" which includes even
more disturbing photos of the families' reactions to their horrifying news. On
another CNN video entitled "When Joy Became Despair", John Casto (a friend of
some of the miners) gave an interview to a reporter. In the background of the
video, the media can be seen swarming around the crowd and the families. | |
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| Objective
reporting missing | |
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Reporters' jobs are to report the news and get the facts about the story in
order to inform the public, but lately the media just seems to focus on exploiting
the endless angles of each story and the emotions at hand rather than the news
itself. CNN.com has many photos, quotes, and articles about the families
and how they are reacting to this tragedy, but isn't the real story the loss of
life, the miracle of a sole survivor, and getting to the bottom of what exactly
happened in that mine? Very little is revealed about the rescue attempts
and how the mill accident occurred. I'm guessing information like that
does not sell the same amount of newspapers and magazines as one that displays
grief, loss, and utter devastation. | |
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| Media
profits from tragedy | |
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Today's media is not what it used to be. Making a large profit is such
a priority that the media is willing to interrupt people's lives in order to get
that tear-jerking story on the front page. Hasn't the media taken us far
enough with graphic images from 9-11, suicide bombings in Iraq, 2004's devastating
tsunami, and most recently the destruction of Katrina? Where is the line
drawn in media? There are some wonderful things going on in today's world, not
just tragedies such as the one in Tallmansville, but you wouldn't know it unless
you turned to page two. --
By Lindsay Sobotka, Weir High School | |
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It makes me want to come to school every day, and it has given me something that I’m really good at.
