Famines Don't "Strike"

Impending famine cover stories lack the iamges of the emaciated and dying necessary to trigger viewer reaction.

The news headline tonight on BBC WORLD: “Famine strikes in Niger.” Are we so obsessed with by the minute shock and awe news headlines that we need to use a verb like strike to depict the occurrence of famine? There is nothing sudden about famine. It only comes as a consequence of severe error on the part of local and international authorities over a long period. People do not starve to death overnight.

The broadcast explained that that the famine occurred following a late rainy season. This implicates the food production cycle, which extends over seasons. The rain didn’t come to water the planted crops so they began to dry out and die. Then when it finally did rain, it only succeeded in flooding the scorched earth bringing with it insects and disease. At what point during this process did it not occur to observers that there would be no food grown. When no food is grown rations run out and people begin to starve.

Some might argue that when food doesn’t grow of course people starve. Well, when food doesn’t grow in Saskatchewan or Nebraska people don’t starve. Where was the plan of action when the experts first noticed there would be no food this season? Where was the international aid?

The BBC referred to their story as “exclusive.” What is exclusive about large-scale starvation? As far as I know starvation typically occurs over large geographical areas. I'm sure it must be accesible to more newsgroups than the forementioned. The story wasn’t exclusive to the BBC, rather the BBC was the only broadcast willing to investigate and run the story. It’s a shame the story couldn’t have been broadcast several weeks or even months earlier when the chain of events necessary for such a large-scale event began occurring. Unfortunately, I suppose, impending famine cover stories lack the images of emaciated and dying necessary to trigger viewer reaction.

By telling the story after the fact and as if it has just happened the long term history and socio-political economic conditions may be overlooked by some audiences. Rather than question the world systems that facilitate such events they will simply see the images and dismiss them as unfortunate. They may think to themselves, “what a shame nothing could have been done for that little dead girl.”

I am aware that the BBC is among the best television sources we have for such things, as most other networks won’t pay any attention until human death counters reach appropriate disgust levels. When they do, people will be horrified but unable to do much. Perhaps there will be an aid drive and someone will be able to unload his or her pity or guilt with an instantaneous twenty-dollar donation. Meanwhile the same inadequate social structures will continue producing many more famines in the future.