If the producers' intent was to help TV viewers understand the suffering and the atrocities, so they can demand their governments act to stop them, then this is an admirable aim.
People around the world are increasingly influenced by what they see on their television screens. So when a popular television hospital drama decides to forgo the local emergency room, and film a series of episodes in a camp for the victims of a conflict taking place half a world away, one can't help but take notice. I certainly did, especially since it happened just as the United Nations was preparing to launch its annual list of the stories that deserve greater media attention.
The show in question was the US TV drama E.R., and its producers have chosen to transfer the action from Chicago, in Midwestern America, to a camp for internally displaced people in Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region. There are few better ways that I can imagine to bring the grim reality of this horrible conflict home to people whose daily lives are far removed from this scale of suffering.
If the producers' intent was to help TV viewers understand the suffering and the atrocities, so they can demand their governments act to stop them, then this is an admirable aim. And doubly worthwhile, given that one US media monitor claims that the three major US evening news programmes devoted less than 10 minutes combined to this devastating conflict in the first four months of 2006--and we have anecdotal advice that broadcast coverage in the rest of the world was not much better.
Clearly, all emergencies are not equal in the eyes of the media, and therefore in the eyes of the world. What else explains that fact that the South Asian Tsunami, which hit at the height of the holiday season in 2004, triggered a massive outpouring of funds while the global response to the devastating earthquake that destroyed the Silk Road city of Bam, in Iran, a year earlier was sluggish, to say the least?
In 2004, my colleagues and I were agonizing over what to do about the fact that blanket coverage of the Iraq war had driven many other vitally important and newsworthy stories from our newspapers and our TV screens. One first step, we decided, was to provide a list of those stories that were not being heard. And thus the UN's annual "Ten Stories the World Should Hear More About" list was born.
Some feared that the media might view our list as a rebuke, but that was certainly not our intention. We wanted to find the means to inspire ordinary people to care enough about these stories to tell their leaders they wanted action--action that would support those who have triumphed against unthinkable odds, help those who desperately need our collective help if they are to save themselves from destitution, misery and worse, and bring into the limelight those successes that we need to recognize. To do this, we chose to provide journalists and editors with a list of those stories that were both newsworthy and worthy of our attention, in the hope that our prodding would contribute to bringing these life affirming and life threatening issues to their front burners.
Two years later, many of the stories on our previous lists are still receiving valuable coverage from media organizations and bloggers.. But even though our lists have made a difference, the fundamental dilemma remains--mainstream media continues to focus on a handful of international stories, while others--equally important and equally deserving of our collective time and our effort--are only viewed fleetingly, and often through a very narrow lens.
Many of the stories on the 2006 list, which was launched on May 15, are not about places that have never graced your morning news, but rather about aspects of those stories that somehow got lost in the telling.
When the world focuses on efforts to bring former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor to justice, we say please don't forget to mention that Liberia's newly elected leader, Ellen Johnston-Sirleaf, is Africa's first female President, and don't ignore the serious struggle her people face as they try to build sustainable peace.
And when stories of people power versus the palace in Nepal appear, perhaps the conflict with the Maoists and the resulting damage to the lives of a generation of children should also rate a mention.
And when the Democratic Republic of Congo is identified with years of conflict and carnage, could readers or viewers perhaps also learn about that country's courageous steps to hold its first ever multi-party elections?
Our aim is to provide journalists with timely and accurate information about these other elements. And we do that because these issues need your attention and support.
Some may argue that journalists are just story-tellers that the real action lies elsewhere. But powerful stories change the world.. Our task is to challenge those who tell the stories that define our world to use that power to make it a better place.
Note: The author is the UN Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information
Sources and Relevant Links:
Asia News Network While we were looking elsewhere... 29-05-2006
