Our television bombards us daily with news about human suffering. From the earthquake in Haiti to the victims of the uprising in Syria, it brings us in contact with the world that is suffering. But does it give us the tools to interpret the suffering and empathize with those who suffer? Or does it keep us confined to the ethics of proximity, where we only care about what happens between us? Perhaps in times of crisis, proximity seems more important. However, the most demanding and revealing ethical relationships are those with distant sufferers. Not with the sufferers we love or have an obligation of solidarity towards, but with strangers, those we will never know. And this is because with these sufferers there is no prior ethical commitment and, in their call for help, we are called to act as citizens of the world, literally as cosmopolitans. How does television encourage cosmopolitanism in our daily lives? What ethical practices does it maintain towards other sufferers, and what power relationships does it reproduce in the "global village" of modern Mass Media?

"There is no doubt that the book sheds ample light on how news about distant disasters is produced, as well as the impact it has on viewers and victims. The author handles this complex subject with energy, insight, and imagination. [...] From this perspective, the book is a valuable contribution to the scientific study of modern Mass Media. At the same time, it helps us understand some of the mechanisms through which transnational imaginary communities are created, reproduced, and transformed."
[From the foreword by Nikos Mouzelis]