Even overseas readers will probably be aware that the Pike River Mine explosion on the West Coast of our South Island has ended badly – after five days with conditions too unsafe for rescue, another explosion has nullified the small chance that anyone in there had survived. 29 people have died.
I don’t have anything much to say about this. It’s dominating everything in NZ, not least because we’re a small country and a lot of people have ties to the region and the families. But it would feel strange not to mention it here.
On the weekend, the front pages of three out of four Sunday papers at one shop showed people praying. The prayer stories continue today. It’s out of step with the usually secular approach of our media, but I think it’s an appropriate reflection of the mood of the nation. It’s a reflective time right now, even for those who don’t pray.
Definitely concur that there’s not much more that can be said about this tragic situation.
Hopefully the local media will show some restraint from here on in.
I thought that the cover of today’s Dom Post was rather crass – totally black with a mining helmet and the words “Our Darkest Hour”.
Yeah, I think a lot of the media coverage is bulllllshit, but I understand that depending on your mood when reading this even a vague complaint about something connected with such a horrid event might also be seen as bad taste… Hmm…
Excuse the seeming heartlessness, but as a staunch atheist it saddens me that when it comes to grief, our media and, seemingly, my country-mates have to resort to a frankly insane belief system.
There are other ways of coping and resolving grief beyond appealing to a mythical creature of the imagination.