Following the recent ISIS terrorist attacks in France, buildings were lit up to look like the French flag, and Facebook shared their condolences by making a profile filter available for users to share their support.  

    Following the ISIS terrorist attacks in Lebanon, buildings were not lit up to look like the Lebanese flag, and Facebook did not share their condolences by making a profile filter available for users to share their support.

    Although these events are both undoubtedly catastrophic and occurred under the intentions of the same, infamous terrorist group, the mass media chose to cover one over the other.

    The only real differences between these events is the social stature of the victims and where the attacks occurred.

    In France, many were out enjoying their day when the attacks occurred in popular restaurants, a soccer stadium, and a concert hall.

    In Lebanon, the minority of Islam, Shia Muslims, and lower-class individuals were slaughtered and injured while the news turned their backs to the victims.  

    No, the death count of the attacks in Paris was not extravagantly higher. The amount of casualties should not be an excuse for one heartbreaking incident to take priority over another, and neither should race and social stature.

    It’s clearly evident in light of the recent terrorist attacks that our media has a certain amount of bias when covering news. Meaning that it seems like most outlets refuse to cover a terrorist attack because of its location and simply the color of those dead faces.

    Our news has recognized only one out of the tens of thousands of terrorist attacks that occured in 2015.  

    I am not downplaying the tragedy of the casualties and grieving families in Paris. I’m simply asking why the media turned to Paris’ side when people are weeping in all corners of the world.

    Do we believe that they are too ‘third world’?  Does the media think they are unworthy of coverage?  Has society labeled them as terrorists because of the rising stereotypes?  Are political alliances coming into play? Or is there a blatant segregation?

    If any answer was yes, corruption is among us.