By Peyton Dickerson, Online Editor
You’re scrolling through your Instagram stories when you see a shared post, “The Amazon rainforest in on fire, why isn’t the media talking about this?” You tap right and see it on another story, and another and soon that’s your entire feed. You ask yourself the same question, ‘Where is the media coverage?’
The Amazon rainforest is filled with biodiversity and is responsible for producing 20 to 30 percent of our earth’s oxygen. Because of this, this forest has been dubbed ‘The lungs of our planet.’
This vast rainforest ecosystem is an important part of our planet, and over the past month it has been burning at a record rate, with the number of Brazil’s fires being 80% higher than last year according to INPE, Brazil’s space research center.
This brings us back to the infamous question that everyone has been asking. “Why hasn’t this gotten any major coverage from the media?”
Many immediately blame the media after finally hearing of tragic events like the Amazon fires when they have been happening for some time. This only adds to the many attacks journalists endure for defending democracy.
Miracles and tragedies happen around us every day. If we aren’t careful, these events will slip right past us. It is easy to become distracted by things concerning our own personal lives. It is also important to keep in mind that often the lack of coverage of these events has to do with the public failing to inform news sources.
The first coverage of the fires from news sources appeared around late August. CNN published their first story on the issue entitled “Wildfires rage in the Amazon” on August 22, around the same time the issue started surfacing on social media.
CNN covered this issue as soon as they were informed of it, and they continued to cover it in many different ways.
Journalists do not overlook, or push serious events to the side. They do not take something like the Amazon fires and make a point of not covering it. Blaming the media discredits the very real and important job journalists take on.
Today, we have the power of technology at our fingertips. Sharing an Instagram post on your story or tweeting about a topic can bring attention to issues quickly. One popular post about the Amazon fires led to thousands of other posts, shed light on the serious issue and gave news sources information that they otherwise may not have known about.
Now, as we aim to fight the blaze spreading through the rainforest, journalists will aim to cover every important event faster than you can say, ‘Why isn’t the media covering this?’
Junior Peyton Dickerson can be reached at 21dickersonpe28@daretolearn.org.
