CNN's "Chocolate Child Slaves"

Welcome to CNN.

For the past week or so, CNN has been pushing--heavily advertising--a series of stories about child slavery within the cocoa industry.

As a teacher, I know that there are susceptible young people out there who watch the news and think, "Hey!  This is a cause I need to join!"

And perhaps it is and it should be.

What those young people don't realize is how some news conglomerates like CNN go about choosing their news.

Yes, "choosing" it.

Their goal is to make money.  And to make money they have to sell news.

What sells best?

News that tempts, horrifies, seducts, pleases.

And so we have the "Chocolate Child Slaves".

It is almost certainly a very real world problem, but that is not the reason CNN published the story.

They published it because they think--and they are right--that such a story will attract viewers.

And viewers mean money.

CNN claims that they are "doing the right thing".

In this case, "doing the right thing" = exploitation = money.

If CNN really wanted to help the children within the cocoa industry, then they could take all of the money that they have spent just within the last week--at the minimum, hundreds of thousands of dollars--and provide a support network for the children (escape, education, retraining, etc.).

Instead, they continue to bleat and blare, "Here is some sensational news!  Come and read it!"

Shameful exploitation.

Welcome to CNN.