## Metadata - Author: [[@Msuwonkunda on Twitter]] - Full Title: Few Thoughts on Week Tha... - Published: - Category: #tweets - URL: https://twitter.com/Msuwonkunda/status/1499749939903086592 ## Highlights - Few thoughts on week that finally exposed western media’s deep seated biases If anything this war in Ukraine has laid bare skeletons still in many newsrooms’ closets Some of us on the inside have always known. Many of you on the outside suspected. But now we all see 1/ ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Msuwonkunda/status/1499749939903086592)) - The reports. The tone. The sheer (un)conscious biases. The blatant racism (call it what it was, we are all grown ups) It was quite extraordinary to watch the coverage of this conflict as opposed to others we’ve seen/lived through before 2/ ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Msuwonkunda/status/1499750830441967619)) - What the world learned (but will we care once dust settles)? Non white bodies are still not considered important enough for media to tell their full stories and be seen as humans - and be afforded the kind of humanity, care, empathy, sympathy seen while reporting on this war 3/ ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Msuwonkunda/status/1499751208503947269)) - Imagine if media were able to show every human suffering an injustice the same way. The stories we’d hear, pains & anguish we’d learn about. Stories that when we collectively come together, it’s not with a superiority of “we are helping poor [insert developing world country]” 4/ ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Msuwonkunda/status/1499752264881352715)) - When I was starting up in this journalism/media I remember a professor at uni explaining why we saw stories we saw on the news and it comes easily down to: 1. proximity to us 2. ability to see yourself reflected in the stories 3. Some of those that decide what’s on your news 5/ ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Msuwonkunda/status/1499752760769716224)) - Who’s in the newsrooms of world’s biggest media houses? Who’s deciding? Do they look like crisis/wars/conflicts they are covering? How big are they willing to spend on deployment to cover? All these matter when it comes to what you see on your news 6/ ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Msuwonkunda/status/1499753318318493703)) - There are so many other factors but those are some of the top ones So… with that in mind is it then any surprises why your Black/Brown bodies won’t make mainstream news (until social media dragging)? We saw this with #BlackLivesMatter . How slow many were to pick it up 7/ ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Msuwonkunda/status/1499754008642297859)) - Speaking of #BlackLivesMatter Remember how things in the media were gonna change after the summer of 2020? Op Eds were written. Pledges made. Promises given. There was hiring galore to be “more diverse” Boy, did it fail at first real test The lack of diversity is showing 8/ ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Msuwonkunda/status/1499754530975760385)) - Because at end of the day no one (very few) who looks like you or me (and billions of the world) are in charge in those newsrooms, we aren’t in the rooms with folks that make the decisions Then you know/see why certain stories have been missing or not told fully this week 9/ ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Msuwonkunda/status/1499754972522627072)) - As a journalist of colour, it hurts when you watch news organisations show little regard for people who look like me or have to continuously fight for certain stories to make a splash Feels like few see us as humans with similar emotions. Many just don’t care Sad. Simple 10/ ([View Tweet](https://twitter.com/Msuwonkunda/status/1499756309067010056))