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| From "Cholera Death Toll in Haiti Rises to 3, 333 CNN - http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/31/cholera-death- toll-in-haiti-rises-to-3333/?iref=allsearch |
The cholera outbreak in Haiti has been developing for several months now, and a CNN update from December 31st has placed the number of deaths from cholera at 3,333 and the number of those infected at 149,000 (CNN 2010a). The origins of this epidemic link to the earthquake of last year, which devastated homes and forced hundreds of thousands into temporary camps where sanitary conditions have for the most part been inadequate (Montgomery 2011) Being the window into Haiti’s crisis for the outside world, international media outlets such as CNN and the BBC have been reporting on the outbreak as it develops, along with other pressing social issues for the country such as the struggling election and the continuing devastation a year after the earthquake. I will now discuss the role of the media in portraying the epidemic to the rest of the world, particularly CNN’s coverage directed toward English-speaking North America. By my observations, many media outlets have not presented Haiti or the epidemic in a fair light, and fails to look at all sides of the problem in favour of a sort of sensationalizing view of the epidemic.
The media cannot really be blamed for problems in Haiti, and this is not the argument I wish to make, especially considering that many media outlets have presented the problems in a relatively fair light. However, many of the most influential international news and media agencies do not really seem to be helping. I went over several CNN articles all on the topic of the cholera outbreak, and I could not help but detect a condescending tone to many of the reports. One reporter in particular, Ivan Watson, is CNN’s man in the field, providing live video footage onsite. I watched two reports of his from the month of December. The images are shocking, depicting an unstable political environment, juxtaposed to dead bodies and ill children. However devastating the scenes though, I find the reporter’s tone, although possibly unintentional, to be that of an omniscient observer who seems to know the solution, and is reporting the tragedy of a country that is falling to pieces, and watching it all with a sigh of hopelessness. In the first report of his I watched, entitled “Witnessing cholera’s toll in Haiti” he reported on the removal of a dead body, suspected to be a cholera victim, from a village by the government. The people of the village were angry because they had asked the possibly infectious body to be removed hours ago, and the government had taken a very long time to respond (CNN 2010c). Both sides, the government and the locals, are frustrated and there is a great deal of tension between the two. Watson ends his report by wondering if the country will ever be able to emerge from the chaos it is experiencing. The tone is pessimistic, and he comes off as a wise foreigner in the midst of two arguing sides - the people and the government.
The second report I watched, entitled “Haiti struggles with cholera epidemic” has him visiting an MSF hospital camp treating cholera patients, which after its treatment procedures, incorporates education on general hygiene and prevention. Watson concludes this section of the report “The key to preventing the spread of cholera is really sanitation and hygiene, and that’s one of the lessons that patients coming through here are taught, and they’re sent home, after treatment with the most basic of tools: a bar of soap to help wash their hands with.” (Watson in CNN 2010b) To me, the tone implies that the root of the problem is that Haitians don’t know how to wash their hands. What the quote doesn’t mention how sanitation sites, poorly funded and developed by the government and outside agencies before the earthquake, have since been destroyed leading to the lack of sanitation that caused the outbreak (Montgomery 2011). The “most basic of tools” as he calls the soap, seems to be alluding to a carelessness on the part of the Haitians, but considering that the average Haitian cannot afford clean water, or the propane or charcoal to boil the water they can obtain for free (Montgomery 2011), soap may be the least of their worries. The overall tone of both of Watson’s reports is of a cool, composed reporter who is on the scene, distant from the troubles and implies in a way that he understands and can deal with the situations better than the Haitians, but at the same time does not fully understand the problem and does not deal with the situation.
I find that the response of CNN has been to sensationalize, but not necessarily point out what the deeper problems of the outbreak are such as poor sanitation even before the earthquake hit, or the fact that the scale of this cholera outbreak has larger implications in general besides a “poor Haiti” response. Other news agencies like the Montreal Gazette take a more open approach, looking at various solutions and the long term problems that have plagued Haiti over the years. But even their report lacks optimism, and reports on solutions that are the best people can do at the moment, rather than what people are doing for long term stability. And perhaps this is just the nature of the destruction in Haiti – perhaps there is no reporting on the long term goals apart from the crisis and little reference to the deep seated issues that have escalated the problems because there is no one in the country to focus on them. If the media is the main way that the general public is obtaining information on crises like the cholera outbreak in Haiti, I feel suggestions for actual solutions and reporting on more in depth approaches than handing out bars of soap should be looked at. But perhaps, when it comes down to a one column or 3 minute slot, as has been the case for much of the recent coverage for Haiti, there is only so much the media outlets can do.
CNN
2010a Cholera Death Toll in Haiti Rises to 3,333, December 31. http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/31/cholera-death-toll-in-haiti-rises-to-3333/?iref=allsearch, accessed January 9, 2011
2010b Haiti struggles with cholera epidemic. December 24. http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2010/11/25/watson.haiti.deadly.cholera.cnn?iref=allsearch, accessed January 9, 2011
2010c Witnessing cholera’s death toll in Haiti. December 31. http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/international/2010/12/01/bs.watson.haiti.cholera.elections.cnn?iref=allsearch, accessed January 9, 2011
MacCormack, Charles
2010 A chance for a prosperous, stable Haiti. CNN, December 27. http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/12/27/maccormack.haiti.children/index.html?iref=allsearch, accessed January 9, 2011
Montgomery, Sue
2011 Seeking the Water of Life. Montreal Gazettle, January 8. http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Seeking+water+life/4079995/story.html, accessed January 9, 2011
WHO (PAHO)
2010 Health Cluster Bulletin: Cholera Outbreak in Haiti. http://new.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4500&Itemid=3527&lang=en, accessed January 9, 2010
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