One of the major news stories from this past week is the train accident in Wenzhou, China. A high-speed train was stalled after being struck by lightning and losing power. The signals also malfunctioned as a result of the thunderstorm. This caused another incoming train to crash full speed into the stalled train. Six cars derailed and two of them were thrown off from the bridge 50 feet above the ground. Around forty people died in the accident, and two hundred more were injured. This incident was reported by various local and international news outlets.
The New York Times briefly described the accident and how the Chinese government reacted. They criticized how the shoddy construction of the railroads was not worth the amount of money China put it to construct it. USA Today and The New York Times had similar content, but USA Today included a video and additional details about an injured girl from the accident. BBC covered less information compared to The New York Times and USA today, but it states, from a journalist’s point of view, that “the corruption has compromised safety in the network's construction.”
Two other sources that I chose to look at this accident are: “Broadcasting Corporation of China,” and “Central News Agency.” The reason why I decided to look up from these two presses is that they are both famous press from their respective country, Taiwan and China. BCC focuses on the 2 and half year old little girl who got stuck in the train for 20 hours after she was discovered. She was still in a dangerous state, and both of her parents died in the accident. CNA stated all the lines that the spokesman of the China’s Department of Railroad said before such as: “Chinese high-speed rail is a technical indicator, it is far superior to the Japanese Shinkansen (the bullet train),” “China is willing to provide technical assistance for the Japanese on their railroad,” and etc. Now all of these seem ironic given what just happened to China’s railroad.
This train accident news reminds me of the concept of breaking news in chapter 6 from the “Mass Communication.” The accident was on the twenty third, and up until now, there are continual updates from the press. Online news press has the advantage over the printed newspaper in that the printed newspaper cannot update as fast as the online press. This becomes more obvious when it comes to the breaking news which requires frequent updating.
By looking at a single news event, there are always different presses that carried their own way of looking at it. Some cover the story with more depth; some may merely glance over it. As a reader, one needs various news presses to get the more complete picture. In this way, one can find out details that some press may have left out.
References:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/world/asia/24train.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=wenzhou&st=cse
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2011-07-23-China-Train-Crash_n.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14262276
http://www.bcc.com.tw/news/newsview.asp?cde=1538682
http://www2.cna.com.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=FirstNews&ID=201107250011
Hanson, Ralph E. "Chapter 6." Mass Communication: Living in a Media World. Washington, D.C.: CQ, 2008. Print.
This is interesting because from your post, it seems like all the major news outlet are reporting this train wreck and also hints that corruption is an indirect cause of this train wreck. And so far, from what I've read from the Chinese newspaper, there's no indication of corruption in the building process of the train network. The Chinese newspaper seems to be diverting all the attention on the survivors of the train wreck.
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