They’re not talking about it on CNN, Fox News or MSNBC. The presidential candidates and politicians aren’t talking about it. We don’t typically run international stories on the front pages of our locally-focused daily newspapers here in Connecticut.
But Ed Stannard’s article this morning on the crisis in Somalia – where so many children are starving to death that the affected population exceeds the number of every boy and girl in the state of Connecticut under the age of 18 – stood out as something that we needed to put out there with a “this is really important” kind of placement.
It topped the front pages of the New Haven Register, Middletown Press and The Register Citizen this morning. And we took another unusual step, offering the story for free use by the rest of Connecticut’s daily newspapers, including those that are our direct competitors.
Ed’s story, in part, asks the question that leaps to mind when one hears how extensive and immediate the crisis is: Can the average person in Connecticut do anything that will really make an impact on it, especially considering how silent the national media and our own government has been about it?
When local papers prominently feature national or international news, it’s often a case of “New York Times Wannabeism.” This was no such thing. Kudos on a decisive moral stand.
This is sad, the children looks so frail, and seems that everyone is struggling to survive. I hope that the Obama administration will be able to help solve the restrictions problem in Somalia so that help will reach the people.