Media: First with the news - but are they right with the news?

We need to be told the full story about events in the Sudan, writes Mark Bowden

Harrowing images from Africa have again hit our television screens. This time it is Sudan. Media interest is vital in highlighting the plight of children and their families caught up in suffering. As an aid agency with a strong, ongoing commitment to Africa, Save the Children applauds the media for taking seriously some of the problems that the continent faces.

But what is the role of the media in such crises? Is it about impartial observation, to bring the reality of African children into our living- rooms? Or does it help to influence the way in which the general public and the international community respond? Increasingly, the latter seems to be the case.

Most people get their coverage of the developing world via television - and most of that is via news. There has been a steady decline in the amount and type of air time given to global affairs. It is my concern that the news media has moved from being an acute observer of the world's problems to an actor who increasingly seeks to define what we should do. We no longer have the news and documentary coverage that we did in the 1974 or 1984 Ethiopian famines, to show the background and complexity of the situation. Current opportunities to inform the public about life in developing countries are narrowed down to short news reports. Emergencies are becoming more complex and more difficult to explain. The result may be that the situation in Sudan becomes simplified, and lingers on the immediate need rather than the fuller picture.

The news media have a growing responsibility to ensure a "full and fair" picture of such crises. The public - and international response - should be properly informed.

For example, the debate about whether or not we are seeing a famine in south Sudan is important. If we see pictures of starvation on our screens it is all too easy to describe it as famine. But this may not be the case. It is important that a distinction be made between a crisis and a famine to ensure that people are helped in the most appropriate way. Many aid agencies have been chastened by having responded inappropriately in the past, and seen themselves doing more harm than good. We have learned to avoid the knee-jerk reaction, and to respond to both short- and long-term needs. The BBC and its reporters have acknowledged that we are not yet seeing a famine in South Sudan, yet within almost every package famine is mentioned and the most harrowing pictures are shown. Incorrect reports of a famine may cause a false set of expectations from the general public about what the response of the aid agencies and donors should be. Famine can be prevented, but will require long-term support for people in their homes and villages and, most of all, political commitment, not a short- term relief operation.

The way in which aid agencies and the media report disasters will be examined at a conference, "Dispatches from Disaster Zones", being organised by Save the Children and other aid agencies.

The way in which stories of crises in Africa are told has a direct impact on perceptions of Africa. The situation we currently see in South Sudan is a part of what happens in Africa, but it is by no means the whole story - any more than is a mudslide in southern Italy. The difference in terms of the impact on the general public is that there is a greater general awareness in the UK of what countries such as Italy are like, through other media coverage, its proximity, and travel. The representation of famine as being the only reality for Africa is far from the truth. Most of Africa is not a "basket case"; its people have dignity, and are resourceful. Imagery of Africa as famine-struck presents a distorted picture of the continent.

Save the Children and other aid agencies have been working for many years to provide support and assistance under difficult circumstances in south Sudan. When the media spotlight falls on a particular country, it is likely that we or other aid agencies will have been in the country for many years, working on long-term development needs. We foresaw the crisis in Sudan and had already started responding to it. Of course, it is the more extreme situations that make the news. In Sudan the media has focused on a particular crisis within a longer-term relief operation. This crisis is likely to continue for 10 months. We need the media to continue its interest so that we can work jointly to ensure the best possible long-term solutions.

The author is Save the Children's regional director for East and Central Africa.

For further information about 'Dispatches from Disaster Zones', a one- day conference on 28 May, please call 0171 703 5400. It is organised by 10 UK aid agencies, including Save the Children and the EC Humanitarian Office.