The Listening Post – Pakistan’s aid shortfall

Did you donate any money to Haiti after the earthquake? Have you donated money to Pakistan to help victims of the floods there? A lot of people can answer yes to the first question, but not so many to the second. What was it about these floods that stopped people dipping into their pockets? We have seen wide shots of saturated fields, families trapped on crudely fashioned lifeboats, villagers left homeless, starving and without clean drinking water. But even with all this we have not been nearly as charitable as we were after the earthquake in Haiti. On The Listening Post this week, we ask: What is about the images of this disaster that fail to evoke the same compassion that others have done? Was it the way the media told the story or are there more complex, perhaps darker reasons behind it?

A suicide bomber rammed a truck loaded with explosives into a police station in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, killing seven people, including a child. At least 26 people were wounded, including six police, officials said. (April 18)
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