Although Australia is only slightly smaller than the continental US, it's population is less than one-tenth of that of America. Like the US, most of that population is concentrated on the East Coast, which leaves vast areas of Australia uninhabited. Even driving an hour out of the city feels removed from urban life, and leaves you wondering what it would be like to drive through the outback. Driving in itself would be quite the feat, since huge amounts of the outback have no four-wheel-drive trails, let alone paved roads. The vastness and diversity of this country is daunting - all there is to see, and the inaccessibility of a lot of those sights.
One nice touch about living in a smaller community is the attention given to each person. Every day Australians are recognized regularly for their contributions to the country - much more so than they would be in the US. While it's understandable that the American media can't give attention to the thousands of newsworthy people, it's also refreshing to see the Australian media do just that. Last night there was a national news piece on an Australian teenager who had become the first Female Australian Gymnast to win gold in the World Championships. Certainly nothing to sneeze at, although I doubt a similar feat would have made the US evening news, or that the newsreader would have regarded her with the twinge of national pride that the Australian newsreader had last night.
One thing I've found very touching is the way the media deals with military deaths. Although only twenty Australian servicemen have died in Afghanistan, nine of those deaths have have occurred this year, and three in the two months that I've been here. Every single one of those deaths is treated as a national tragedy. The men haven't been reduced to a moment of silence, or a name flashed across the TV screen. The media has gone above and beyond to put together touching and thorough tributes to Australia's lost soldiers. While it's not realistic to do the same for the hundreds of US servicemen and women killed, it's lovely to see these poignant memorials done right.
No comments:
Post a Comment