Yes, I’ve been a bad blogger. But it’s not my fault, I swear. I’ve been working on another blog for new media, discussing cyberculture. It’s been pretty interesting so far, more interesting than I thought it would be, but trying to come up with ideas proves to be problematic! Check it out at cyberculting.wordpress.com – it’s still in the opening stages, so don’t worry if the form changes a bit!
Anyway, I was sitting in a photojournalism class last week, and learned something quite interesting about myself. We were looking at THAT Kevin Carter photograph and obviously our lecturer asked us the vital question: would you have stopped to take that photograph? And everybody ummed and ahhed about the ethics of it in the first place – and what was the context, and what happened to the child? But would I have stopped? Yes, I would have. Without a doubt, I would have.
But then the question arises. Once you’ve taken the photograph, do you scare the bird away? Swoop the child into your arms and save the day? Call me cold-blooded and completely heartless, but that’s not our job as journalists. A journalist is there to report and report only – not to be a humanitarian, not to save the world one starving child at a time. Ideally, I would like to combine both, yes. But what about the 300 other people at the feeding station? Do I try help them, too? The line needs to be drawn, clearly. And I believe it’s up to the individual to make that choice.
Obviously, however, I am contemplating this from the safety of my keyboard. Who’s to say that my maternal instincts (and apparently, because I’m a woman, I have to have those) won’t kick in, and suddenly I’ll find myself clutching the hands of four children and becoming the poorman’s Angelina Jolie.
And once I find that the child has starved to death, would I be able to defend my actions by saying: Well, it wasn’t my job? Who knows. Maybe I’ll slowly go mad with guilt and anger at the world, for something I could not have realistically prevented. But it’s not my job. It should be the job of those with the power to help. I read somewhere that Ethiopia has requested around $68 million dollars for aid after the recent droughts. Now if you think about it, that’s not too much to ask for. Most blockbuster movies rake in that amount without blinking. America spends billions on its defense budget (defending who, from what, I ask?)
So spread the love around, that’s all I’m asking.
