Why so little coverage of the explosion at a U.S. military base in Japan?

[TJ8869]

I just looked at the CNN app on my phone. There are 59 headlines currently listed on the app. There are stories about the following items:

- Rapper Wiz Khalifa was arrested for riding a hoverboard at LAX.
- Some chick dressed up as Jamie Lee Curtis' character from Halloween and went on a tour of filming locations. While she was walking the tour, her boyfriend showed up dressed as Michael Myers and proposed to her.
- Behind the desk: concierge true confessions.
- Megan Fox filed for divorce.
- Should we ban topless women in Times Square?
- Is Melissa McCarthy right on plus sizes?
- What happened to Tawana Brawley?
- Family of bears frolics in a swimming pool.
- Student makes half-court shot for free tuition.
- Girl was sent home for violating school dress code.

All of these pointless stories and not one mention of the fact that there was a huge explosion at a U.S. Army depot approximately 25 miles from Tokyo.

 

[2bagger22]

I've been wondering the same thing. I'm sure oit has a reasonable explanation.

 

[mstp1992]

I just looked at the CNN app on my phone. There are 59 headlines currently listed on the app. There are stories about the following items:

- Rapper Wiz Khalifa was arrested for riding a hoverboard at LAX.
- Some chick dressed up as Jamie Lee Curtis' character from Halloween and went on a tour of filming locations. While she was walking the tour, her boyfriend showed up dressed as Michael Myers and proposed to her.
- Behind the desk: concierge true confessions.
- Megan Fox filed for divorce.
- Should we ban topless women in Times Square?
- Is Melissa McCarthy right on plus sizes?
- What happened to Tawana Brawley?
- Family of bears frolics in a swimming pool.
- Student makes half-court shot for free tuition.
- Girl was sent home for violating school dress code.

All of these pointless stories and not one mention of the fact that there was a huge explosion at a U.S. Army depot approximately 25 miles from Tokyo.

It was one of the top stories on AlJazeera.com.

 

[TJ8869]

I've been wondering the same thing. I'm sure oit has a reasonable explanation.

Even if it turns out to be just an accidental explosion with no foul play, it still seems a bit more newsworthy than Wiz Khalifa or Megan Fox or Melissa McCarthy or a school dress code violation.

 

[TJ8869]

It was one of the top stories on AlJazeera.com.

That's because Al Jazeera actually covers news. In recent years it seems CNN has morphed into a TMZ clone.

 

[mstp1992]

That's because Al Jazeera actually covers news. In recent years it seems CNN has morphed into a TMZ clone.

Agreed.

 

[cigaretteman]

Apparently no injuries, little chance of the fire spreading, apparently no troops lived there. Still odd that it got little coverage from the mainstream press:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/japan-explosion-us-military_55d9ecf4e4b04ae497037e48

 

[fredjr82]

it still seems a bit more newsworthy than Wiz Khalifa or Megan Fox or Melissa McCarthy or a school dress code violation

You think an explosion overseas is more important than the people in your post to a majority of Americans!?!?!

 

[cigaretteman]

Found this tidbit on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution website:

In April, three explosions were reported near Camp Zama which is less than 10km from the depot. According to the Wall Street Journal, Japanese police believe that left-wing extremists were to blame for that incident.

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/national/reports-explosions-near-military-facility-japan/nnPrQ/

 

[ottumwan in tx]

It was one of the top stories on AlJazeera.com.

alex jones was in Canada yesterday and he mentioned it so maybe the news is better from "outside of the usa sources"

 

[ottumwan in tx]

there is also relatively little coverage of the tanking of the markets

 

[cigaretteman]

there is also relatively little coverage of the tanking of the dow jones avg

Really? It's the top story on both the NYTimes and Washington Post, among others.

 

[mstp1992]

there is also relatively little coverage of the tanking of the markets

Top story on AlJazeera.com

 

[cigaretteman]

An aerial view of a warehouse which caught fire after an explosion at the US Army Sagami general depot in Sagamihara, south-west of Tokyo. Photograph: KYODO/Reuters
The Pentagon confirmed on Sunday that an explosion had occurred at a US military base in Japan. No injuries were reported.

Video posted to YouTube appeared to show the explosion. A Department of Defense spokesman later said the blast happened just after midnight local time “at a building on a US army post, the Sagami Depot in the city of Sagamihara … about 25 miles south-west of Tokyo”.

In the statement emailed to the Guardian, navy commander Bill Urban added: “There are no reports of injury, and base firefighters and first responders are currently fighting the resulting fire to prevent its spread to nearby buildings.”

The building that exploded was storing compressed nitrogen, oxygen, Freon and air, a statement issued by the US Army Japan said. Photos taken after daybreak and released by the Army show dozens of gray canisters lying on the floor, and what looks like mangled storage racks.

The walls of the one-story, concrete building remain intact, but the windows and doors are damaged and about half of the roof collapsed, the army said

The Sagami depot is home to the 35th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, concerned with army supply and logistics including the management of chemicals and ammunition.

The local fire department said it received a call just after midnight of an explosion at a US army depot where it said “dangerous material” was stored, and sent firefighters.

It added that the fire had subsided and there was no danger of it spreading. The cause of the fire was not immediately known, the fire department said.

A US army spokesman subsequently told Reuters the building where the explosion occurred did store any hazardous material.

Toner added that no troops lived at the depot, which is the workplace of an estimated 200 personnel.

In Japan in 2011, the 35th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion assisted in recovery and aid efforts after a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/23/pentagon-confirms-explosion-us-military-base-japan

 

[cigaretteman]

Top story on AlJazeera.com

Also CNN

 

[ottumwan in tx]

Really? It's the top story on both the NYTimes and Washington Post, among others.

I meant in his cnn list above right there

btw, I lived near wappingers falls when the tawana brawley thing happened, people were running around with bumper stickers saying, "I'm from wappingers falls and I did not do the tawana brawley thing" or whatever the stickers said

 

[mstp1992]

Really? It's the top story on both the NYTimes and Washington Post, among others.

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