Because I stay up far too late all too often, over the past few weeks, I’ve caught a few editions of ABC television’s World News Tonight when it’s shown on BBC News 24 at 1.30am every morning.
It’s very easy to hear the words “World News” in the show’s title, and then see that the majority of the stories are solely about America. Indeed, some of the features really belong to news magazine programmes, but the programme is still pretty good. It’s not a bad programme however.
I like to watch it as something of an insight into the minds of how America is thinking. This is where many of them are getting their information on the world around them, and it’s interesting to put it into perspective with our own news. (Yes, I know plenty of people are actually getting their information from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert as well!).
So it was with sadness that I heard the news that ABC’s co-anchor Bob Woodruff, along with his cameraman Doug Vogt, had been caught in an attack on the convoy they’d been travelling through Iraq with. I’ve seen a few shows that he’s done with his co-anchor, and it’s obvious that he does get around a bit, presenting news from, well, the world.
In the aftermath of the incident, and obviously, it’s unclear yet how badly hurt Woodruff in particular is, it’s notable that there’s a lot more coverage on his case, than the thousands of others who’ve been injured in the line of duty.
Yesterday, the 100th British soldier died in Iraq, and I think it’s fair to say that we don’t cover the issues enough in this country either, albeit that the casualty figures are a fraction of what the US is suffering.
But maybe the injury of someone as high profile as Woodruff will bring home the suffering being felt by thousands of families when their loved ones are injured.