Famine, War and Corruption: The British Media's Portrayal of the Global South

This film from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), just over 10 minutes in length, examines how the British media portray poverty in developing countries. It features interviews with journalists and filmmakers, including Jon Snow (journalist and news presenter, ITN), Caroline Nursey (director, BBC Media Action) and Richard Kavuma (journalist, The Observer, Uganda). These contributors discuss how media in the United Kingdom (UK) tend to focus on issues of war and disaster, rather than giving a true picture of life in developing countries. They discuss some of the challenges faced by the British media as they explain global poverty to the public, including the pressure of ratings, tight timescales, and newsroom staffing cuts.

According to IDS: "Not surprisingly, as this video shows, members of the UK public widely associate developing countries with disasters....The media plays a key role here; it is where most people hear about the South and the plight of the people that live there. Such media coverage is critical for the fundraising efforts of international development NGOs [non-governmental organisations] in times of emergency. However, it perpetuates views that are rather destructive in the longer term; concepts of 'charity', of nothing getting better (and hence aid not working) and of helplessness. The media also rarely do anything to bring forward the wider structural issues that underlie global poverty."

The video was produced as part of IDS' ongoing work to understand how policy and opinion on international development is shaped.

Click here to access links to longer interviews with each of the contributors to the video.