Dogs Of War

I have launched a new blog "Dogs of War". To see images of "Man's best friend" in times of man's greatest need click HERE

For Video from Sudan click HERE

1000 Words - When the Media Gets it Wrong - A Case Study

The following Article was written by Ragini Tharoor, editor of India Currents magazine, under the title "1000 Words". It can be found HERE

RAGINI THAROOR SRINIVASAN, Nov 01, 2007


In August, I was contacted by Operation Blessing International (OBI), a non-profit organization that coordinates humanitarian efforts around the world in disaster-stricken countries like Sudan, Kosovo, and Lebanon. And, apparently, India. Could India Currents, I was asked, help publicize OBI’s disaster relief work in the state of Bihar?

Hundreds of thousands were stranded because of monsoon flooding. Villagers were being attacked by vipers and cobras that had converged on high ground at an alarming rate. Many of the flood victims were so afraid of the snakes that they hardly ventured outdoors, choosing to relieve themselves on the ground just beyond their homes, ground wet with stagnant, leech-infested floodwater.

The picture painted by OBI’s Assistant Director, David Darg, was grim, one of a desperate population living in grossly unsanitary conditions. I was torn: Was this the image of India that we wanted to portray in our magazine? An image of poverty? Of misery?

My doubts were reinforced when I received photographs from OBI’s efforts in Bihar. Wide-eyed, naked babies in the arms of sari-clad mothers and grandmothers. Men and boys in tattered shorts wading through knee-deep floodwater. Representatives of OBI delivering relief kits, hygiene items, and emergency medical supplies. The final image was of Darg, handsome and smiling in a brown t-shirt, bending down to give a relief kit, stamped with the words “Operation Blessing India,” to a young Indian girl dressed in rags, her hair tied with a dirty orange ribbon.

I was dismayed. How could I publish a picture of a Caucasian American man—however well-intentioned, however much a world citizen and humanitarian—lowering himself to gift the poor brown families of India the relief they were not able to attain for themselves or with the assistance of local government?

I wrote to OBI with the request that they send me a new batch of photos, with Darg standing amongst the people he was working with as opposed to literally, visually above them. It was about the politics of the image, I said, not the quality of the work being done.

But even when I received new photos of Darg standing side-by-side with the villagers, I wasn’t satisfied. I couldn’t stop thinking about the ways that altruism can manifest itself as “al-tourism.” I did not for a second doubt the good work that OBI was doing, but missionary “good work” always comes with a politics of its own.

I didn’t run the story. Months later, it’s still on my mind. As I watch the news coverage of Southern California in flames, and as I recall the lack of government response to the devastation wracked by Hurricane Katrina and picture the thousands of evacuees cramped into the hot, filthy Louisiana Superdome, I know that humanitarian efforts—no matter where they come from, no matter how they “look”—do aid populations, bring peace, and enable the reconstruction of homes and lives. And that, notwithstanding a complicated politics, is also a blessing.

My Response

We originally contacted India Currents magazine knowing that they had a large readership amongst Indian's living in America. Our hope was to reach out to the Indian communities in America, let them know what is happening to their own people and appeal for funds. The reality of the situation was exactly as I painted it in my article, horrific. Tens of thousands of Indians in Bihar state were (and still are) suffering and in desperate need of external funding just to provide them with emergency relief to take them to a place of safety. Our ultimate goal was to raise funds to help those people.

Unfortunately politics and misunderstanding took precedent and the photograph of me handing a relief kit to a little girl was interpreted to mean something it isn't, that the West is greater than the East. Yes a picture is worth 1000 words but if those words are misinterpreted then the consequences can be dire. Instead of running the article and possibly generating funds to help the people of Bihar, the magazine held off. Apparently the fact that I was "above" the little girl painted a negative image. Didn't anyone stop to consider that I'm about 3 feet taller than her?

I would have happily gotten down on my knees and handed the relief kit up in a sign of utter humility if I had known that my pose would have had so much impact. But in defiance I want to state that the photograph depicts the situation perfectly. The West was coming to the rescue of the suffering population in Bihar. That's not to say that we are heroes or that we want to take credit, it's just how it was, the reality of the situation.

Magazine editors never like to publish stories of suffering, it looks bad for their advertisers. In this case the editor literally didn't want her readers to know the reality of the situation on the ground so she censored the truth and in doing possibly prevented funds from reaching the flood victims in Bihar.

In the article she refers to our work as "missionary good work". While OB is a Christian organization I feel it is important to state that we never proselytize the Gospel during our work. We go as humanitarians and do so because as Christians we feel it is necessary to help our neighbors and as humans we go because we feel compassion for the suffering. We have no hidden agenda, our goal is to help those in physical need. Yet another misunderstanding that could have cost the flood victims vital support.

In her support the editor did seem to grasp the magnitude of the situation, it is just so disappointing that she chose not to publish my article and instead use the space to write a confusing article based on her misconception of a simple photograph.

India is going through a period of intense financial development and is one of the globe’s rising stars. But behind the glitz there is still a very stark reality of unimaginable suffering. Poverty in India is rife. If India Currents magazine really wants to be true to its name they should acknowledge that 27.5% of the population “Currently” live well below the poverty line.