Week Forty-two – Yesterday’s news! #BringBackOurGirls

Missing Schoolgirls #BringBackOurGirls

Yesterday’s news is today’s tomorrow’s news and no one cares about it!

Back in May the whole world was astound by the kidnapping of 200 school girls in Nigeria and celebrities around the world participated in a campaigned entitled #BringBackOurGirls ncluding the US President’s wife Michelle Obama. For weeks all major news TV channels and Newspapers all over the world broadcasted constantly about the missing girls; awareness was being spread through social media for the whole world to do something about it, a kind of a global peer pressure for the government in Nigeria to react and take action. I too was gripped by this and week Twenty of my blog was dedicated to this subject doing my own slogan #realmenrespectwomen. I wanted to take part in this by sharing my views on the these men who had forgotten that those women they oppressed and hated so much had given them life and where in this planet because of them.

Spandau Ballet in their way back to stardom!

Why I am telling you all this and why have I entitled this week’s blog “Yesterday’s news”? To give you more background on the inspiration for this week’s topic let me also share with you a Television program I saw which indirectly links to the missing schoolgirls story. Back in the 80’s there was a band called Spandau Ballet which many of you will not remember the name unless you grew up in the UK during this era; but if I hummed their most recognised tune “True” you would know them instantly (click on this link to listen and youwill say “oh yea… I know this song!” I don’t know how to hum in a writtenblog!!!) Spandau Ballet literally shaped the way we dressed and acted in the 80’s and were the pioneers of the “New Romantic” era of the day. Like many other bands they lost their way, did not keep up to date with changes (techno took over the 90’s) and very rapidly they went from being one of the most successful groups of the 80’s to a bunch of unknown musicians; they became “yesterday’s news”. As I watched Television this week I came across a “special program” on Spandau Ballet where they were performing their hits and being interviewed about their lives, careers and raise and fall from stardom. Just before the end of the program I said to my wife “I’d bet you they have a new album coming out, that’s the only reason they are doing this “special” program” and sure enough at the end the presenter says “what’s the future for Spandau Ballet?” they are releasing a new single and going on tour in 2015!

I like Spandau Ballet and I am exited about their new single but the question is why did they fade away and did not produce anything for 25 years? They could have continued back then entertaining their fans all these years (they never officially split up unlike other bands). They just literally became yesterday’s news, and no one cared. This is common in any artistic profession, the moment you become yesterday’s news, no one cares and it is the end of your career.

So what does Spandau Ballet have to do with the missing schoolgirls in Nigeria? This week there was also another program, which I happen to stumble upon that feature this subject again. The question being raised was the same question asked 5 months ago “what happened to the 200 missing schoolgirls?” except this time there was no huge campaigned behind it backed by celebrities and politicians and it was in an obscure TV Channel at a non-primed time… in other words nobody cared. But what the presenter said actually send shivers down my spine; “5 months on and the 200 schoolgirls are still missing, and no one has done anything about it” this made me realised that anything in this world can be “Yesterday’s News” even if it is as important and impactful to the world as this humanitarian barbarism these men in Nigeria had done. Because people stopped to care and new things came up, they faded away, became yesterdays news and they are still missing, we assume and hope, still alive. And this goes on and on all of the time, the moment it becomes less sensational for the news programs and papers to sell, it gets push back giving room to more important and sensational news of the day, which of course will sell more and increase ratings. It’s a cynical way to look at journalism but it is a reality of the media, which nowadays is also driven by social media channels. Anything becomes very quickly yesterday’s news. Even your updates and posts in Facebook work on this principle; the more likes and shares you get the further up the newsfeed your post gets pushed, it doesn’t matter whether it is an interesting post or not, popularity beats context every time and if nobody gives you a “Like” you become “yesterday’s news”

This is even relevant in our every day life; think about it. When you join a company you are the “new kid on the block” and everyone is looking at you, you become the centre of attention. Unless you keep on producing and delivering up to expectations, people soon forget about you and move on. When you don’t keep up with trends, adapt or change with times, when you are no longer relevant, when you have passed your peak, when you are no longer useful, when you just simply do no fit in; you become “yesterday’s news” and fade away.

We have to make every effort to always remain relevant, to always be useful, to ensure people keep us in the forefront of their minds, that they don’t just give up on us because something else more important has popped up and even though we were the centre of attention, we no longer feature high on the agenda.

We should make every effort to care about things, it is shocking that #BringBackOurGirls is now featured on an obscure network in a non-prime time; we should not rest until the schoolgirls are back home and these men punished, if we cared so much back then, why are they still missing and why Mrs Obama and all other celebrities don’t continue to keep this subject as today’s news?