Vava Tampa: Why does crisis in Syria get extensive media coverage, but not the killing in Congo?

                                                                                                                                                          The question here is not whether the human suffering in Congo deserves more media coverage because it is greater than that in Syria or Gaza, but rather, why has the crisis in Syria or Gaza qualified for extensive media coverage, but not the killing and raping industries in Congo?                                                                                                                                                I doubt that this is because of a shortage of sobering imagery of Congo's killing fields or a lack of first-hand testimonies from survivors, or a lack of human rights and humanitarian reports and assessments of the situation.

Is it due to the geographical or cultural distance between London or Washington and Congo? Or are Western media just reluctant, if not uninterested, to cover it because no Western interests or ally is endangered by it?

Would the coverage the situation in Congo receives be the same if it was happening in Europe or if Congo spoke English rather than French?

What if Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe or his disciples were implicated in funding murderous militia gangs in Congo? Or if the killing was between black Africans and Arabs?

Or if minerals funding Congo's killing and raping industries benefited the East more than the West?

Vava Tampa and Alphonse Muambi(international observers of de elections 2011 in DRC)

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/27/opinion/congo-war-ignored-vava-tampa/index.html

Editor's note: Vava Tampa, a native of Congo, is the founder ofSave the Congo, a London-based campaign to tackle "the impunity, insecurity, institutional failure and the international trade of minerals funding the wars in Democratic Republic of the Congo." Follow Vava Tampa on twitter: @VavaTampa