Poor Reporting
There's a great piece on the BBC Radio 4 Website about "Poor reporting" in which Storyville editor Nick Fraser "looks at what it takes to get people in the rich world engaged in the issue of global poverty". The documentary is part of the Why Poverty? documentary project.
The radio programme document's Fraser's trip to New York to find out more about why poverty is rarely these days on the media agenda. The blunt answer it seems is that poverty is not as entertaining as films like Man eating super croc, one of the films made by Michael Hoff of Hoff Productions whom Fraser interviews. Having done some recent reading around this subject area, it will be interesting to sift through the Why Poverty? films and look at exactly what the films are advocating in terms of solutions. There is now a growing argument amongst some academics that aid is not the solution to the problems faced by the developing world (see Collier, Moyo and Dowden for comments on this), yet there is still much that the developed world can do and is responsible for in tackling the issue. Using this documentary series across 50 broadcasters to raise awareness in 500 million people can only be a good thing.
To listen to Fraser's documentary, follow this link.