Flip-Flops

Japan "Reactor Pit Found Leaking Radioactive Water Into Sea" led on this morning's New York Times website front page. It was accompanied by other big stories the Gray Lady deemed newsworthy and fit to print. But strikingly, there was not a single major story about Libya above the fold. At the bottom crease, there was small link to one Libya article ("NATO Airstrike Reportedly Kills Rebels in Libya") and two smaller links to related photos and videos. That was it. If you blinked, you'd miss them. It was much the same story on the websites of the other major dailies. It's kinda stunning. Not long ago, the disaster in Japan rightly dominated the news. Then it rightly flipped to Libya. Now it's flopped back to Japan. Unless it's a sensational story with a melodramatic narrative, it's rather amazing how fast we Americans lose interest in the rest of the world. The news media merely mirror our usual apathy. That's a pity. (Update: As I post this, the Times has made the Libya story more prominent on its front page. Good. But the old saying still applies: If it bleeds, it leads.)