The snapshot above shows mainstream news coverage of the famines currently ravaging the people of Somalia and the Horn of Africa. The data, taken from Google, contrast the media attention paid to recent incidents such as the Norway shooting, the phone hacking scandal in the U.K., and the Congressional battle to raise the debt ceiling.
Some 500,000 Somali children are reported to be on the verge of starvation, due to the most severe drought conditions in the region in two decades. Today The New York Times ran a graphic photo of a starving child on its front cover, with executive editor Bill Keller telling Salon, ”I know many readers found the picture disturbing. That’s good. The deaths of thousands of Somali children ought to disturb us, at least.”
With the debt fight over, will a shift in the media’s attention be enough to help the millions of vulnerable Somali’s and their neighbors avoid a starvation tragedy? Judging by the response so far, the outlook is grim.
(via futurejournalismproject)
Dehumanization.
“Dehumanization takes devaluation a step further, or many steps further. I become, not Amanda with my many complexities, gifts, and struggles, but “that queer.” Someone else becomes “a welfare mother” or “an illegal immigrant” or “a retard.” Adjectives mutate into nouns, and people get lost. Once someone is dehumanized, it’s easy to ignore their wants and needs, easy to reject their wisdom, and in extreme cases, easy to kill them. All inequality-based violence starts with dehumanization.” (Amanda Udis-Kessler in Tikkun, Aug 2010)
One of my favorite articles ever.
The current needs and aspirations of 30 million human beings in Iraq should outweigh the American public’s dislike of a few past-tense politicians.
Geoffrey Gresk, Utne Reader, March 2011. This is humanistic journalism.
We need philosophy of journalism.
“Why, at a time of breakneck technological and social revolution in news and newsrooms, do deans and presidents permit ossified philosophy departments to abdicate their responsibility to cover the world by not thinking about the media? How can it be that journalism and philosophy, the two humanistic intellectual activities that most boldly (and some think obnoxiously) vaunt their primary devotion to truth, are barely on speaking terms?” Carlin Romano in The Chronicle of Higher Education (2007). One of my first and favorite articles on this subject.
Humanism is the last thing taken into consideration.
The Journalist Who Crossed the Line, a collection of stories providing a behind-the-scenes look at the Israeli press. Read the March 2007 Haaretz.com article first.
The Media & Iraq
“…little effort has been made to deal with the issue of war reporting, the protection of journalists from mental or physical harm, or the hate, racism and dehumanization that reporting about conflicts produces, even in some of the world’s most professional journalists and media outlets.” (Daoud Kuttab in International Review of the Red Cross, Dec 2007)
Beyond Left & Right
“Journalists have too often perpetuated the false notion that seemingly any issue can be cleanly divided into right and left, conservative and liberal, because these labels make our work simpler, supplying us with a handy structure we can impose at will on typically uncooperative facts.” (Peter Goodman in The Huffington Post, Feb 2011)
Journalists should treat sources as human beings deserving of respect.
“What should sources expect from student journalists? For starters, a pledge to seek truth and provide a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Ethical journalists should treat sources as human beings deserving of respect. They should encourage the public to voice grievances over news coverage. All that and much more is in the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics. There’s a deep ethical imperative to journalism, generally consistent with the core values at Goshen College.” (Duane C. S. Stoltzfus in Media Ethics Magazine)
If you know the detail of somebody's story, it's difficult to hate them.
“As we work out the details of the online media world, we need to consider how users can stumble across of points of view other than their own.” (Carole McNall’s in Media Ethics Magazine)
Student Editors Need Help
“Students may, in fact, see journalistic codes of ethics as a kind of “use-in-case-of-emergency” guide. According to our conversations with top editors at 50 daily college papers across the U. S., they’re likely to reach for the code last when making day-to-day decisions.”
About Me
I'm @jihiitea.
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