Reporting Disasters - Franks, Suzanne

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Résumé :
A groundbreaking account of the reporting of the 1984 Ethiopian famine, and its unintended long-term consequences.

Biographie:
Suzanne Franks was for many years a news and current affairs journalist with BBC TV. She left to found an independent production company and also completed a PhD. She is now Professor of Journalism at City University in London and has published widely on the coverage of international news and the history of broadcasting.

'Reporting Disasters makes a powerful case for a better understanding of the causes of hunger. Franks shows how the way starving people in Ethiopia were portrayed on TV - the famous 'Biblical famine' of 1984 - distorted the world's response, inspiring aid deliveries that may have done more harm than good. The coverage failed to understand the politics of famine. This is the best kind of history - one that challenges stereotypes and asks uncomfortable questions.' - David Loyn, BBC International Development Correspondent 'This is the compelling life story of a transformational news event. Famine footage from Ethiopia allied to the pop star glamour of Live Aid confirmed the predominance of television news and changed the aid business for ever. Thirty years on, with fresh revelations from inside Government and the BBC, Suzanne Franks' study takes on contemporary significance as TV news and overseas aid confront potentially disabling new challenges.' - Peter Gill, journalist and author of Famine and Foreigners: Ethiopia Since Live Aid 'This fascinating book is a must-read for anyone with an interest in the enduring effects on the aid industry of the nexus of global politics, celebrity and the media of the mid-1980s. Franks' sweeping narrative offers an unprecedented, detailed insight into events which were to define a generation's view of Africa in the wake of Michael Buerk's iconic 1984 television news report about the Ethiopian famine.' - Leigh Daynes, Executive Director of Medecins du Monde in the UK 'As we approach the thirtieth anniversary of the 1984 famine and the iconic BBC TV film by Michael Buerk and Mohammed Amin, Suzanne Franks provides us with a comprehensive and detailed analysis of how that film came to be made and its profound impacts on the various actors in the humanitarian drama - donors, humanitarian agencies, celebrities and fundraisers and on the media itself. Using this watershed moment in the media coverage of disasters, she explores the relationship between the media and humanitarian actors, exposing the overlapping and sometimes conflicting interests of journalists and humanitarian agencies and the ways in which they are reconciled - often presenting the public with oversimplifications and occasionally significant misrepresentations. This impressive book is a significant addition to the literature and deserves to become a standard reference in training courses for both journalists and humanitarian workers.' - John Borton, Senior Research Associate, Humanitarian Policy Group, Overseas Development Institute 'A fascinating, thoroughly researched and eminently readable book which makes a major contribution to our understanding of television's impact on politics, policy-makers and audiences. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the relationship between media and politics.' - Steven Barnett, Professor of Communications, University of Westminster