By Petr Navovy | Social Media | February 15, 2023 |
By Petr Navovy | Social Media | February 15, 2023 |
I’m sure by now everyone’s heard of the mini-apocalypse that’s unfolding in East Palestine, Ohio—though that awareness is probably more in spite of what the mainstream media has been doing, rather than because of it. No surprises there I suppose, but the response of the capitalist media to the catastrophic train derailment that took place at the start of February and has been poisoning the air, the land, the water, and killing off scores of animals, has been … almost cartoonishly disproportionate, even by its standards.
Yesterday there was a major derailment in Houston, and another in Enoree, South Carolina.
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) February 14, 2023
This is exactly what rail unions keep warning us about. Unless there are major changes the industry will get worse, not better. And that means more disasters like East Palestine. pic.twitter.com/1bdnWGWUzX
East Palestine railroad derailment will have a significant negative impact on the health and wellbeing of the residents for decades and there is almost zero national media attention.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 13, 2023
We need Congressional inquiry and direct action from @PeteButtigieg to address this tragedy. https://t.co/I42g4fXWsz
I spoke with the people of East Palestine, Ohio.
— Prem (@prem_thakker) February 13, 2023
The government's deference to Norfolk Southern has left people lost, relying on each other instead. They have alarming symptoms. Their pets are dying. Some are even packing up to leave a place they love.https://t.co/M1YEUMzbBW
I've seen A LOT of national media blackouts reporting on-the-ground. I've NEVER seen a blackout like corp media barely covering a mini-Chernobyl in East Palestine OH. This will be one of the worst ecological disasters in modern American history.
— Jordan (@JordanChariton) February 13, 2023
Most of the reporting I’ve seen from the corporate media has been around the effects, the people, and the technocratic obsession with how things are being fixed. The Bezos Post reported:
Some nights, resident Eric Whitining told The Post, the air smells like an “over-chlorinated swimming pool” and his eyes burn.
Incredibly, CNN focused on the ‘grim humor’ some residents are using to deal with the situation, with a significant angle of the reporting referencing the Noah Baumbach film White Noise:
In a way, the movie has provided a point of grim humor about the situation facing the residents of East Palestine - the joke no one wanted to make.“Everybody’s been talking about that,” Ratner said of his friends and neighbors who are keeping in close touch through the crisis. “I actually made a meme where I superimposed my face on the poster and sent it to my friends.”
As for the causes—the reasons why East Palestine and a terrifyingly large portion of the surrounding area has been poisoned with lethal substances—that barely seems to figure in any of the reporting.
In a properly functioning world, the people and the corporations and the politicians and the political models behind this would be front page news now, and we wouldn’t have to wait for Mark Ruffalo to show us it all in a film.
But at least we have TikTokkers I guess!
It’s estimated that 25 million Americans live in an oil train blast zone. Maybe something should be done to prevent this stuff from happening again, instead of just making it more likely? But then again there are profits to be made, so who knows what the right path to walk is?
(Header image source)