Around the world: Ebola under analysis, Pistorius sentenced
The world takes a look on how to keep Ebola at bay, while Oscar Pistorius is sentenced to five years behind bars.
By Marielle Torrefranca, for the International Reporting Bureau at Humber College
While yesterday’s Ebola headlines provided a glimmer of sunlight with news of vaccines and the lifting of some quarantines, Tuesday’s international coverage reminded Canadians that, even at home, there was no cause for expressions of relief.
CBC led its Ebola coverage with an analysis: “Can Fortress North America keep Ebola at bay?” In the feature photo, a Maryland man was shown outside the White House protesting against the U.S. handling of Ebola cases. The push for a travel ban was placed under the spotlight, set against the call by some U.S. authorities for screening instead of tight restrictions. Senior Washington Correspondent Neil Macdonald pleaded the cause of rationality, noting that North American education about Ebola was “mostly from watching disaster movies,” and that fear, nativism and ignorance—not facts—had created the desire to take shelter in a “First World safety” panic room. Noting the call by some in Congress for a travel ban, he closed with the line: “Lost in this uproar, of course, are facts.”
The Toronto Star’s international Ebola story, which took up a little more than half of its first world page, was centred upon a study by a Canadian infectious diseases specialist who noted that detection was more likely to occur at departure points rather than screening on arrival. The newspaper’s global health reporter, Jennifer Yang, wrote a detailed account of success rates of airport screenings for Ebola at international hot spots. Coverage included a point-form story by the Associated Press highlighting Nigeria’s success with containing the virus.
Global News zeroed in on South Africa with two of its world headlines linking to video pieces on the sentencing of Oscar Pistorius for the killing of Reeva Steenkamp. Each video was a short hit: one a reporter’s item on the sentencing, and the other a 40-second footage of the satisfied reaction from Steenkamp’s parents.
CBC followed its Ebola coverage with the Pistorius story, giving a rundown of the sentencing together with reaction from family, the International Paralympic Committee and the South African government.
Other big stories included a multimedia obituary on famed designer Oscar de la Renta on the CBC and Turkish allowance of U.S. airdrops to support Kurds in the Star, which focused on addresses made by of Turkey’s foreign minister Melvut Cavusoglu.
