The terrorists have returned to London.
I'm working from home this morning so relatively secure. And news travels ultra-fast - but is also confused and rumour-laden.
Already, I've had people contacting me to check I'm ok. Ton just rang from the Netherlands and Tony's on Skype at the moment from Melbourne. What a world we live in. Intimately connected and interdependent. Vulnerable to the behaviour of lunatics, yet also with the resilience of interconnection.
I'm sitting here trying NOT to follow every news bulletin. This is my current, possible futile, way of resisting being terrorised. And, of course, I am anxious, and concerned for all those who are suffering as a result of these bombers. It's hard to fathom the thinking of those who perpertrate these attacks and right now I'm way too angry to try.
I'm reminding myself that I've experienced this before living in London, though that doesn't right make me feel much better right now.
UPDATE: I'm now watching how this is being covered online and on TV. The TV is suffering already from rolling news syndrome: very high ratio of speculation to content. Jack Yan suggests New Zealand TV coverage is disproportionate. I think he's right. Watched a bit of Fox News and it was pretty dismal - some really ill-informed explanations of the London underground by an American wanting to sound like an expert but not actually having the facts.
Technorati was very interesting - the London tag for instance - for a while but seems to be down. Tony gives kudos to fast work at wikipedia.
I'm caught between my horror at what I see and a dislike of the way 24hr mainstream media sensationalises. Is this a stiff upper lip I'm starting to feel?
Technorati tags: London, terrorism
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Comments (7)
For me, it's a reminder I really need to launch that Global Entrepreneurs’ Forum I set up as an extension of Beyond Branding. It's what we in the industry can do.
July 7, 2005 11:53 Permalink for comment
Glad you're okay.
MSM are constrained by the format. Silence is impossible. As are the real questions of why?
Watch for who, what, when, even how; never why...
July 7, 2005 13:35 Permalink for comment
Having never even met you, still I wondered if you were okay when I heard the news. I'm struck by that sense of connectedness, even just with bits and bytes.
Your message reminded me of calls from around the world on 9/11 here in the U.S., having run to my daughter's elementary school (in D.C.), I was kept informed about what was happening and whether planes were headed for D.C. by a friend who was in rush hour traffic in Johannesburg, South Africa...something impossible not that long ago. The potential for that interconnectedness to do good is unlimited, isn't it?
As for news accounts, I think we forget that news agencies are also businesses, competing like any other business.
July 7, 2005 14:31 Permalink for comment
Glad to see you're OK Johnnie. Still have a lot of people I can't reach. Flickr (tag: bomb, london) immediatly started receiving streams of images.
July 7, 2005 14:35 Permalink for comment
Glad you're OK, Johnnie - our hearts and prayers go out to all Londoners today.
July 7, 2005 16:13 Permalink for comment
Hi John,
I forgot you live in London as well. I only remember Chris. BUT somehow I stop by to read your Blog today. Must be faith!!
Good to know you are fine!
Cindy
July 7, 2005 22:04 Permalink for comment
I switched to Fox News to have a gander as well, Johnnie, and I am surprised that any fool can get on there as an “expert”. TV3 stayed with its Sky coverage, which was marginally better, if showing the same pictures by virtue of having the same parent company. BBC World did best for the New Zealand media: TV One's footage was from there overnight, and there was more reporting, including an interview with an East End bishop and a mosque leader. There was also a report from the Olympic Committee in Singapore. I can understand the Beeb focusing on London, but those networks with nothing to say—Fox News, I'm looking your way—could have equally covered some other countries’ views (outside the US and UK) and provided us with ‘Fair and Balanced’ coverage.
July 8, 2005 00:24 Permalink for comment