Gift of the Sponsors

January 7th, 2012

You might have noticed a pattern to local coverage of the Somali famine: it was almost all seen through the lens of one organization, Gift of the Givers (GOTG).

I decided to find out more when I saw how many media organizations were “traveling with” GOTG, how much media coverage the organisation received, and how relentlessly positive it was.

GOTG took 23 journalists on this 12-day trip, nearly half their team of 52 participants, more reporters than doctors. Every local media group was there, and some international, such as CNN, BBC and CCTV, the Chinese broadcaster.

GOTG appear to put as much effort and resources into managing media coverage as they do organizing medical support during their quick forays into places of crisis. Is this cynical, or savvy? Is it done because they are saints, or because they want to be known as saints? Can journalists write honestly about their sponsors? What implications does it have for the way we see Somalia?

Ethical red flags are fluttering in the wind and our media - taking the opportunity to cover a difficult story at minimal cost - has been silent on these issues.

A few outlets have been consistent in telling their audience who is paying for their coverage – the minimal ethical requirement. Some have done it sporadically, but many have hidden behind the euphemistic “this reporter is traveling with GOTG”.

We no longer have the space to be purist about how we cover stories in the way wealthy media organizations might have done so just a few years ago. Gone are the days when reporters can insist on only traveling under their own steam, carrying all the costs and avoiding obligations to any interested party. Most local media have to choose between accepting the hospitality of interested parties, or not covering the story. But this means we have to be especially vigilant about understanding how this influences our view of the world, and the importance of being transparent about it.

I spoke to two journalists who went on the latest GOTG trip. Both had been wary of GOTG and its agenda and effectiveness. There were murmurings in journalists’ circles about GOTG’s quick fly-in, fly-out approach. There was caution about being used by the organisation’s media-savvy founder, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman.

Both these journalists came back positive about the experience. They reported how open GOTG had been, allowing the journos to be present at their daily briefings, no matter what problems they were dealing with. There had been no attempt to control coverage. They had freedom to operate as they wished, within the limitations of severe security issues which restricted everyone’s movement.

Dr Sooliman is open about why he places so much importance on media coverage. It is necessary, he says, to get across the situation of ordinary Somalis often forgotten in the conflict coverage, to internationalise the situation and mobilise global donor support. “The SA media carries a lot of weight in the continent and the world,” he told me. “After the first lot went with us, the whole world took notice.”

Once he took some reporters along, he could not be selective. “We asked one representative of each media organization.

“We only ask that they give a reasonable amount of coverage, because it costs money to bring them there. But after that, it is up to them. We only ask them to tell what they see, good or bad.”

If you want to assess the value of this trip, I recommend a fine summing up by one journalist in particular. Nastasya Tay of Eyewitness News did a daily podcast (available on their website), an eloquent conversation with herself about what she saw and the questions that haunted her. “Time and time again doctors have described consultations with people who aren’t all that sick, but who need more than anything the conversation, a kindly word … the soothing ointment of a hug.

“On the frontline, relief takes various forms. The greatest contribution you can make is to do your job, and to do it with integrity, empathy over pity, understanding over assumption.”

Not a bad set of guidelines for relief doctors and journalists alike, in difficult and complex situations.

*This column first appeared in Business Day, 28 September 2011

Entry Filed under: Anton Harber, Print