Softcore famine p@rn-Globe & Mail Somalia issue

Oh, those quality newspapers with their quality writers!
I was quite surprised to see the picture that accompanies the article 

In famine-stricken Somalia, Canadian kidnap survivor seeks to become a saviour

on the front page of Wednesday's Globe and Mail print edition. Yep, it shows a white woman appropriately dressed with a headscarf putting her healing hand on a dying African baby! 

 
Peter Power/The Globe and Mail

And on page A12 the headline for the second part of the article reads 

Somalia: Kidnap survivor seeks to become the saviour of a starving people

Wow. Aren't we all glad that a heroic kidnap survivor is returning to Somalia as a saviour no less?

And by some twist of fate, the former journalist (what a surprise that journalists seem to like her...) has found a new career-running her own relief NGO:

In her new career as the founder of a Canadian-based relief agency, Ms. Lindhout felt it was crucial to travel to Mogadishu, the epicentre of the famine. “People are dying,” she said. “And there’s nothing more important than saving lives.” 

Helping is important, so it's great that professionals step in:

Yet she lacks experience or expertise in humanitarian work. Her agency, the Global Enrichment Foundation, is a tiny newcomer in Africa’s vast aid industry. Its high-profile entry into the Somalia famine-relief campaign has sparked questions about the proliferation of relief agencies, the role of celebrity aid, and the question of whether small-scale agencies are nimble trailblazers or wasteful duplicators.

So how does she engage with criticism about accusations of 'celebrity aid'?

Ms. Lindhout says she would love to join a coalition of aid agencies, and she agrees that co-ordination is crucial. She says she is surprised to be considered a celebrity. But her personal story is a major source of income for her foundation, and it allows her to work for the foundation without a salary. She has an international book deal, she gives speeches across Canada about the importance of forgiveness, and she was the subject of glowing reports on CNN and NBC last month, which triggered a $300,000 surge in donations to her humanitarian work.

The never-ending story of media helping to create 'celebrities' who are then surprised by their new found fame and may be encouraged to venture into the aid business without sufficient knowledge. One of Canada's leading newspapers still doesn't get development reporting right and chooses a 'white woman's burden' story to fuel celebrity aid and to endorse potentially ill-conceived DIY-relief efforts as a major solution to 'get things done' on the ground.

Update September 14: 
In yesterday's Globe & Mail the executive director of MSF Canada contributed an interesting comment on the complexities of aid in Somalia with the headline 'Shocking images aren't enough':

The current crisis isn’t affecting the entire Horn of Africa, and it isn’t simply caused by drought. What differentiates the people affected by the crisis? Years of suffering through war and violence, and limited access to health care and other essential services, compounded by drought.

With an expectation that we’ll alleviate our guilt and solve the crisis by feeding the starving children in the photos, the subsequent and inevitable rounds of suffering will only be met with a stomach-churning “not again,” and perhaps a cynicism that was intended to be avoided in the first place.