Many Americans, especially those who work in the media, seem to disregard the concept of humanity when it comes to their livelihood.
If you pay close attention, you may notice under most viral posts, tragic or not, there are some random reporters asking for more information. Earlier this week on Twitter, a Houstonian posted their condolences for a family who lost their lives in Hurricane Harvey. The post went viral with people sending their thoughts and prayers. One of the many comments came from Nidhi Prakash, a BuzzFeed reporter.
“Hi Daniel, so sorry for your loss — how did you know the family?,” Prakash tweeted. “I’m a reporter with BuzzFeed News, would be great to talk to you.”
Not even 24 hours had passed since an entire family lost their lives and BuzzFeed News was more concerned about finding a story to cover than caring about the family. Twitter users got into a mini debate under the post on whether Prakash was in the wrong.
Carbi D tweeted it wasn’t the time to be getting a news scoop. However, Dania tweeted in support of Prakash, saying she was only looking to raise awareness.
I’d have to agree with Carbi D. How would you feel if your loved one had passed away and not a full day later there was a journalist trying to contact you — simply to make headlines?
Many tragedies serve as lessons or as a way to raise awareness for issues, but it should be the affected party’s choice whether or not to reach out. Journalism can be tricky because there are occasions where attention needs to be brought to situations even when it’s not necessarily wanted. For instance, America needs to see the destruction Hurricane Harvey caused because it’s how you gain resources and donations.
There’s no easy way to ask a person about troubling times. However, simple common sense should tell you how to go about the situation. Giving a person more time to cope or sending them a personal and sincere message would suffice.
Aside from journalists, there are also individuals who create purposefully insensitive content for social media. They don’t get a paycheck, but instead find their glory in likes and retweets, which is even worse. There have been pictures of dead bodies, sex tapes and violent incidents throughout my social media timelines. Americans are becoming so obsessed with social media attention that we are beginning to forget what it’s like to be empathetic.
As a society, we must become more empathetic. The idea of humanity is gradually dying and we must make it our responsibility to revive it. Once we can truly begin treating others with sympathy and compassion, we’ll see a major change in all aspects of our daily lives.
Clarke Perkins is a 21-year-old political science senior from New Orleans, Louisiana.