“War and Drought Are Bringing
Famine in Sudan”
Reuters
The New York
Times
January 3,
1988
Nearly
a million people sat starving in southern Sudan. The government could not or chose not to
do anything to prevent it. As for
the cause, Reuters, in typical news agency style, simply repeats the
proclamations of the government of Sudan that finger rebel actions as the cause
of the starvation. All that is
depicted is desolation but no examination of the causes (with the exception of
“rebels”). Nowhere in this
discussion does Reuters discuss Sudan’s export of foodstuffs. The starvation of almost a million
people is a mystery after reading this article except for stating, “no one is
planting anymore”. Absent is a
discussion of why agricultural production has been
ignored.
Furthermore, the New York Times only interviews government officials or aid organization officials. There is no discussion from the people or the rebel’s point of view. The citizenry is presented as bloodthirsty, lazy, and stupid. In fact, the only anecdote is of an attack of an aid worker for telling the crowd that there was no food.
~Matt Culler