2008 Woodie Awards
The one track media
Lauren Johnson
Issue date: 4/6/06 Section: Opinion
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They run toward the back of the paper, if at all, wedged between ads and without photos,
They will certainly not make it to CNN's nightly newscasts.
Without a doubt, stories revealing the latest updates from Iraq require extensive media coverage.
In a war where more than 2,300 American casualties is the result of three years of battle, it is critical that America is made aware of the current situation.
However, Iraq and the Middle East are not the only hot zones on our planet. As media outlets compete over which one will be able to provide the sexiest stories from the war zone, human rights violations are occurring much closer to America's borders as the mainstream media fails to adequately highlight them.
Let's spin the globe back toward our hemisphere.
On March 30, President Bush attended a summit meeting in Cancun, Mexico with the leaders of Mexico and Canada. They were there to discuss the implications of controversial House and Senate immigration bills.
While in Mexico, Bush visited Chichen Itza, the site of an ancient Mayan metropolis, and had his picture taken while scaling pyramids and smiling with traditional indigenous performers.
Bush expressed appreciation for this rich culture during the photo opportunity, but as the lights from the flashbulbs faded, so did both the president and media's interest in the story of these people.
Chichen Itza is among dozens of major ancient Mayan sites, which stretch from Mexico to Guatemala, Honduras and Belize. From 250 to 900 A.D., the Mayan civilization was comprised of powerful city-states, much like the ancient Greek empire.
At the height of their existence, the Mayans had developed written language, a method for studying astronomy and massive pyramids carved from limestone and constructed without aid of the wheel.
A common misconception about the Mayan civilization is that it collapsed completely, with its people dissipating into the abyss of ancient history only to be discussed in high school textbooks.
Though they no longer construct pyramids that rise above the rainforest canopy, today the Mayans are the largest indigenous population in North America. According to the Permanent Mission of Guatemala to the United Nations, nearly 50 percent of Guatemala's population consists of indigenous people.
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