Appealing Narrative

An appealing narrative, as the term suggests, raising the questions of: Why is it appealing to the public? What constitutes it as an "appealing" narrative? The distinction between an appealing narrative and non-appealing narrative can be made through the comparison of global attraction between the Holocaust and the genocide in Darfur. As indicated through a mini-survey in Professor Fischer’s class, almost all, if not every student had become aware of the Holocaust through school teachings. While this does not constitute appeal in the sense that the students were “drawn” to the incident by their own will (although perhaps many may have), what does constitute appeal is the fact that the Holocaust is written about in thousands of books, academic textbooks, websites, and many more mediums, and is taught to students in school. Intriguingly enough, this dissemination of information occurred during a time where mass communication through means of advanced technology and internet was not present.

Darfur, on the other hand, is an ongoing tragedy to this very day; this very day as in this very day where technology can mass transmit information globally and instantly. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) in collaboration with Google has even mapped the destruction on Darfur through integration with their own, Google Maps in a project known as “Mapping Initiatives” (Mapping Initiatives). Indeed, the death toll (still in dispute) of around 400,000 in Darfur does not quite compare with the death toll of over 6,000,000 of the Holocaust, but they are both classified as genocides and both involved a mass killing of humans (Darfur's Real Death Toll). The concept behind an appealing narrative thus asks, “Why is it that so many know about the Holocaust that happened decades ago, yet a fraction of the population know about the genocide in Darfur even with today’s means of mass communication?” Perhaps it could be the distinction between 6,000,000 and 400,000, or perhaps it may be the “third-world country apathy” factor, only research can tell but this is the framework of an appealing narrative.

Today, the appealing narrative of the general public appears to have devolved and become bounded by the realm of entertainment and only life-threatening or globally major issues that directly affect the public. In turn, this appears to have affected news companies as well, as suggested by the following image posted by a Reddit user:

(source: Reddit)

While cruise passengers “suffering” from cold food goes on to make front page articles, the appeal of more severe issues seem to be deteriorating in “media land.” The concept of the appealing narrative thus, not only affects the public, but the content that the media portrays: Why show something that isn’t going to accumulate hits or pageviews?

"Darfur's Real Death Toll." Editorial. Washington Post. Web. 13 Nov. 2010.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/23/AR2005042301032.html.

"Mapping Initiatives." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Web. 13 Nov. 2010.
http://www.ushmm.org/maps/projects/darfur/.

Reddit. Web. 13 Nov. 2010. http://www.reddit.com/.