Media focus on quake is not overreaction

The Lushan earthquake has attracted huge national and international attention, and media interest, says an article in Beijing News. Excerpts:

Rescuers are still racing against time in their efforts to find survivors of the earthquake, as searches continue village to village, house to house.

So far, the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Lushan County in Sichuan province on Saturday has killed 192 people, and left 23 missing and 11,470 injured.

Since the quake, everyone from top leaders to rescuers on the frontline, have made saving people's lives their top priority.

Although the quake was not as devastating as the one that hit Wenchuan 5 years ago, the concept of saving life above all remains in place since that event.

The huge attention of the media is just a reflection of the raised awareness of the fundamental value of life, and is not an overreaction.

The development of social media has also played a significant role in coverage of the story. Normal people, not journalists, have been able to report from very close to the center of the event, and as a result of this, their being involved in events has been closer than ever before.

The media attention has helped in the relief efforts.

The increased amount of information that has been transmitted, and transferred to the media, the more help that has provided.

The more care that is shown by the public as a result, the higher the level of consolation felt by people in the quake-hit areas.

In this new information age, individual lives are given more attention by more people, and the great attention given to major disasters such as this one must be considered a good aspect.