Royal Baby hype unnecessary for world

Amid high anticipation and attention from both Britain and the international community, Britain’s Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge on July 22.

Despite the celebrations Prince George’s birth brought to the international community, disaster was unraveling miles away in China. On the morning of July 22, series of powerful earthquakes struck the northwestern province of Gansu, killing  more than 90, injuring at least 1000, and displacing as many as 227,000 people from their homes, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Homes of the Gansu province, most of which are rather underdeveloped and made of timber and mud brick, could not withstand the quake, followed by as many as 371 aftershocks in the area.

These two events, occurring simultaneously, highlight yet another failure by the media to address an international natural disaster in favor of the anticipation of Britain’s beloved royal baby.

The hype over the arrival of Prince George started weeks before his birth, culminating in a frenzy as the Duchess of Cambridge was admitted to the hospital after entering the early stages of labor. Both British and international media jumped on board to cover the news, flocking outside the hospital and keeping live coverage of the news.

Though the birth of any individual is an exciting one, many questioned if hyped-up media coverage of Prince George was truly necessary.

“Well, you know, everybody has babies,” said Margaret Rhodes, Queen Elizabeth II’s first cousin, when asked by CNN if she was excited about the birth of a royal baby. “And it’s lovely, but I don’t get wildly excited about it.”

The British are also split on opinions of the media sensation the birth of a royal baby brought. Press TV reported how BornEqual.org, a website and Twitter campaign, criticized the royal baby media hype and encouraged society to reconsider the appropriateness of royal birthright.

In the past, the media has exercised similar irresponsibility in news coverage. On Aug. 5, 2012, Wade Michael Page entered a Sikh temple in Wisconsin and murdered six innocent devotees. Many individuals noticed this event did not receive nearly as much attention as the Colorado theater shooting. In fact, the front page of Yahoo! News was inundated by trivial stories about celebrities rather than coverage of the terrible massacre.

In the case of the royal baby, there is no wrong in celebrating the birth of a new life, as the media did so loyally for the wee Prince George. But it may not be worth the hype when it sways the attention from people in suffering and need of aid — even if they are miles away and may not directly impact our daily lives.

 

Shoko Oda is a junior majoring in international relations.

Follow her on Twitter @shoko_oda