“Colonial relationships and attitudes can clearly be recognised in the communications of international aid organisations. Hungry black children and noble white saviours are still very much present in contemporary campaigning. But many of the new, ‘positive’ or ‘innovative’ aid campaign genres are also very problematic, observe media scholars Emiel Martens (UvA/EUR) and Wouter Oomen (UU) in a recent article on OneWorld.nl that caused quite a lot of debate. New campaign genres often feature famous ambassadors that visit a project abroad, simulations of non-West misery (e.g. by being locked-up in a cage or painting faces of celebrities as if they have ebola), or adventure journeys such as hiking in Nepal or biking in Tanzania. What is going wrong? And how can campaigning in development aid be done in a more ethical way? Martens and Oomen discuss these and other questions in ‘Poverty Porn 2.0’, the latest podcast of Disrupt Development.”
