Many people who are conscious of the media’s biased coverage of terror attacks in different parts of the world usually frame the issue as one of outright racism. This is misguided, if not dishonest, given that social media erupted into a frenzy when the image of a drowned Syrian refugee went viral in 2015, suggesting people do occasionally care about dark-skinned people.
Therefore, it isn’t that people care more when civilians with a particular skin color die in tragic circumstances. The fact is that people care more when the media tells them to care more.
The recent attack in St. Petersburg is no exception. No major landmarks were lit up to show solidarity and sympathy with Russia for an attack that killed more civilians than the London attack two weeks prior. There was no Facebook flag change and no march of world leaders. In fact, the “world leaders” who expressed sympathy for this recent attack in Russia were largely foreign ministers — not heads of state.
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