Criminal defense attorney Mike Cavalluzzi comments on the limited media coverage given to recent Boko Haram massacres and kidnappings carried out in various areas by the Nigerian militant Islamist group.
Cavalluzzi says he thinks press coverage of the violence in Africa has not equalled airtime given to many other disasters since most Americans already have an image that the region is fraught with regional violence across the continent that goes back a long time.
“Going back to the massacres in Rwanda, I think we look at that entire civilization as somehow a place where this happens and we don’t seem to get upset about it as when it’s a place like Paris, which looks a lot more like New York City than any part of Nigeria.”
He said that despite the horrific nature of atrocities happening in Nigeria and other nations, the American public isn’t shocked enough with the violence, which results in reduced media coverage. “Then I think on some level, it’s the color of people’s skin, there’s just more of a disconnect when people don’t look like you than there is when people do.”
It is also pointed out that massacres perpetrated by Boko Haram are typically carried out on women and girls, and this might also contribute to a lack of consistent press coverage.
Watch the full episode to also hear a discussion about the provocative cartoons by artists of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo – site of the deadly terror attack in Paris – as well as the larger issues of freedom of speech and press solidarity.
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