Three NATO Troops Killed on December 3, 2011 and Nobody Noticed
Read Time:3 Minute, 19 Second
Before you read this, do something. Google the following :”model w”. That’s it. What you will get are dozens of articles, maybe hundreds by the time this is published, about Lauren Scruggs.
Ms. Scruggs walked into the propeller of a plane on Saturday. She suffered severe injuries to her face, neck and shoulder, and the damage to her left hand was so severe it had to be amputated. Ms. Scruggs is a fashion blogger, a model and was a stylists on a television show.
I saw the headline “Model Walks Into Propeller” early yesterday on the Fox News website. It was on the front page. The story is also on the front page of The Huffington Post, The Daily Mail, The Sun, CBS News and many, many others. I concluded that Lauren Scruggs must be the daughter of someone important, as her name didn’t ring any bells, or perhaps she had a stage name. I was surprised to find that no, she is not a celebrity or a politician or related to a celebrity or politician. She’s a gorgeous 23 year old model from Texas.
The number of American military injuries and deaths in Iraq is 33,183 as of November 17th, 2011, and 1,848 in Afghanistan. Not one of those injuries or deaths received the amount of press that Lauren Scruggs’ accident received, with the possible exception of Pat Tillman. The number of Iraqis and Afghanis killed numbers over 100,000. Again, not one of those deaths garnered the attention Ms. Scruggs’s injuries did. A white, Christian (her family told Fox that Ms. Scruggs loves the Lord), beautiful model walks into the propeller of a plane, and that’s front page news all over the country.
I wonder what the media frenzy would be if Lauren Scruggs was African American, or Hispanic or Muslim or gay. I wonder if this accident would be known simply by Googling “model w.” I feel for her and for her family, I truly do. This is a young woman, who has months if not years of therapy and surgery ahead of her. She walked into the propeller of a plane. If she were not a white, Christian model from Texas, I’m almost certain I never would have known anything about her accident. If she were a 19 year old Army PFC who had his legs blown off by a bomb, I am almost certain I never would have known anything about it.
People are commenting on this, stating they hope her life isn’t over. Her life isn’t over. I lost two friends in Iraq; their lives are over. The thousands of American servicemen and women who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan-their lives are over. Iraqi children who are dead, Afghani children who are dead. Their lives are over. But today, none of that was important, because a 23 year old model walked into the propeller of a plane on Saturday, and what should have been a family tragedy turned into a media event. Why? Because the mainstream media is no longer about journalism, it’s entertainment. Walter Cronkite, Edward R. Murrow, John Chancellor are all rolling over in their graves. It’s not about news, it’s about ratings, hits, shares. It’s about shit, quite frankly.
Lauren Scruggs will eventually recover from her injuries. Will she be physically gorgeous again? Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps the universe has a different plan for her now. People recover from much worse than this, and go on to fantastic lives. Models have been in horrific car accidents, had cancer, survived eating disorders and come back stronger and more wise. Is that what will happen here? Who knows. What I DO know is that the mainstream media will continue to devolve into a cross between World Net Daily and the National Enquirer, and the next time someone asks me if I am a journalist, I will answer “No, I’m a blogger.”
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I do understand your point. However, there are differences. Those in Iraq and Afghanistan are warriors in combat zones where people getting killed is not news. A young woman stateside walking into an airplane propeller isn’t an expected event and thus, is news.
There has been a disconnect between the people of this country and military involvements since we decided to go with an all volunteer, professional military. Of course, during my Marine Corps days in the Vietnam Era when when had more than 50,000 killed and untold numbers wounded and effected by PTSD and Agent Orange we ended on the wrong end of the news stories. Many of my friends who made back were reviled by the very country that sent to war.
Let’s face it, the issues of war are not about the day to day activities of the soldiers on the ground. It is about the politics, ideologies, and budgets, and aggregate numbers.
For sure what happened to this lady is a tragedy and I appreciate you pointing out that it is a terrible thing, but I have to agree with you that the media blackout on the deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan are APPALLING. I am a NAVY veteran who voted for Obama in 2008 hoping he would stop our aggressive wars and military expansion in the middle east. I used to call my self a liberal, but I now refer to myself as an independent. I hope you will consider a Ron Paul Presidency in 2012 as he seems to be the only candidate seriously talking about Stopping this Military Nonsense. . .
Micheal, first thank you for your service. My family has served this country in many wars since the American Revolution, and I have the utmost respect for veterans. In regards to your statement about Ron Paul, however, I have to respectfully disagree. Mr. Paul wants to eliminate most of the federal government, including the FAA, the FDA, HUD, the Department of Commerce and the DOE. His proven ties to white nationalist groups is extremely disturbing, as is the fact that he admitted he wrote at least two of the racist newsletters that bore his name years ago. I know people can change, but the fact that Stormfront.org continues to champion him and promote him, along with other groups with similar belief systems, is unfortunately evidence that he may not have changed at all. A person can only say “I had no idea” so often before it sounds like a lie.
You make so many valid points here Erin I can’t list them all without doing another post. It is true the MSM is no longer news as much as it is entertainment. Sad.
It’s exactly like what Ledger’s character in The Dark Knight says: “When everything goes according to plan, no one freaks out.” If they said on the news that a bunch of gang-bangers got shot, or, as this article states, an IED kills some troops, no one freaks out, but if little Becky Gunderson walks into a plane propeller all hell breaks loose.
Good point.