Perspective

   The State of Israel is about the size of the State of New Jersey. Population size is similar.

   The Gaza Strip is about half the size of New Jersey's Camden County, just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. But Camden County has triple the population of Gaza. At least, it did before the war started and Palestinians either left the region or died from bombing.

   Here are the numbers:

   Israel has a population of 7.4 million people in a area of 8,522 square miles. New Jersey houses 8.7 million people in 8,721 square miles.

   The Gaza Strip sits on 139 square miles, with a population of 1.5 million when last counted. That was before war started.

   That compares to 227 square miles in Camden County, which has a population of 525,000 people, one-third that of Gaza.

   All of which leads an observer to ask why American news media have lessened coverage of the war in Ukraine, and devoted much of their time to the conflict in the Middle East.

   What of the wars in Africa? Or the poverty and violence in Venezuela, which sends people to seek refuge and opportunity in America?

   So the question becomes, why do news media focus on one or a few issues and ignore others?

   One answer is that all news is local, and journalism media carry reports of interest to their viewers and readers.

   Example: Toronto news media seldom carry many reports of what the Philadelphia city council is doing. And vice versa.

   All news is local.