At the risk of incredulity, what other conclusion could a reader draw from CNN's headline and supporting image?
It is this sort of "no-brainer" reportage that infuriates readers and media critics. How difficult would it be for the Western media, such as CNN, to provide a little more context.
Why does CNN "spoon feed" audiences with bombast and overstating the obvious, The perspective that is absent here is that in Islam, suicide is strictly forbidden. CNN's focus is on the novelty of someone jumping from the world's tallest building and not on the apparent cultural and religious tensions.
To take a broader angle would be edifying -- a perspective often lacking from Western media.
Adil Salahi writes, "It is true that suicide is strictly forbidden, because it is an affront to God. It is like a person saying to God: “You have given me life and I am taking it away. The World Health Organization found that Muslim nations such as Iran, Kuwait, Egypt and Jordan have some of the lowest suicide rates in the world, undoubtedly because of their religious beliefs. At the same time, around the globe people commit suicide at the rate of one death every 40 seconds.
CNN's focus on the world's tallest building and not on the relationship between Islam and suicide misleads readers by not addressing some on the underlying causes for such an action. What is fascinating about this story is the cultural, religious, and socio-economic perspectives -- points of view that are complex and multi-faceted. In the end, the choice of the image and the words to describe the event do audiences disservice.