Media and the Developing World

Africa seems to be the target of humanitarian communication’s downfalls and Annas (1997) highlights its consistent depiction: “In general, war, famine, racial conflict, abuse of power, corruption and a lack of planning characterise the image of Africa.” Africa’s portrayal is overwhelmingly negative and its identity lies in the issues it faces rather than what it has to offer or the value of its people. In many ways, the continent is a microcosm for the issues at the centre of development media. This piece will explore how, through looking at Africa’s media representation, we can understand and contextualise key conceptual issues at the heart of humanitarian communication. POVERTY PORNOGRAPHY: Poverty Pornography is a technique used in humanitarian communication and most commonly in charity and NGO campaigns. The key objective is to invoke feelings of ‘guilt and pity’ through using explicit and graphic images of the effects of poverty (Cameron and Ha