Aidnography

Hi all, Lots of things going on: There will be a monthly newsletter-probably ready from December onwards ! But there is also plenty of development and digital culture content this week as you would expect: An angry UN USG on our neglect to protect; we need British aid; an overview over #WonderWomenGate; impact evaluations are still the talk in town; evaluating a health care project in India; From real-time data to real-time programming; privatizing education in Africa with help of philanthrocapitalists; what next for the ICC? Your regular #allmalepanel fix & Romeo Dallaire ' s new memoir. 'Cars entering and Leaving Mosul ' is my reading recommendation for this week! And finally: Data responsibility as the new CSR & how not to take ownership of other people’s stories. Enjoy! New from aidnography Subscribe to Aidnography's monthly newsletter! * indicates required Email Address * First Name Last Name Email Format html t...

One of the many advantages of being in charge of your own blog is that formats can be adapted. As much as this is my review of Thomas Arcaro ’s Aid Worker Voices: Survey Results and Commentary , it is also a snapshot of my ongoing discussion I have had with the author prior to reading his book and discussing the current state and future potential behind the project. In many ways, Aid Worker Voices is a hybrid: It is a work-in-progress report, a data handbook and an example of reflective writing at the intersection of academia and the aid industry. It is also an invitation to listen to an incredible variety of aid workers and their voices expressed through a unique, comprehensive, long-term survey project. Based on a census-style 60 question survey that just over 1000 aid workers completed between January 2014 and March 2015 and that is documented on the companion website , the project gathered an incredible range of responses on the state of play of aid work and the aid workers in...

Hi all, As my post on the Dancing Missionaries disaster approaches 6.000 hits, another Friday arrived all too quickly and fresh links are due!  Development news: More on the Uganda mission zeal; MSF refuses vaccine donations; humanitarians help, they don’t solve problems; the price of attacking poverty in Bangladesh; Haiti…sigh; participation and regeneration; aid worker voices project; the impact of instagramming Everyday Africa; moving expats; the difficult lives of Sherpas in Darjeeling. Our digital lives: Failing sucks; do we need more uncomfortable conversations? Is philanthropy bad for journalism? New publications on media development and digital politics.  Academia: Psychology’s ‘methodological terrorism’ debate and future of statistically significant results.   Enjoy! Don't miss great content on Aidnography ! Subscribe to the new monthly newsletter! Development news This video from Uganda highlights everything wrong with global development I don’t th...

Hi all, Back from a short trip, good discussions about my latest post on Christian mission misrepresentations, time for weekend readings! Development news: Better journalism on Haiti; Coca Cola, diabetes in Mexico and the soda-industrial complex; digital sweatshops in disaster zones; communicating ‘on the ground’; Congo’s Kolwezi radio; bankrupting Sudan is a bad idea; disempowering traits of NGOs; rise of the advocacy professional; engaging with wicked problems.  Our digital lives: Operating in a world with no truth. Academia: Should we kill the conference panel? (yes, please!) Enjoy! New from aidnography A perfect digital (shit)storm: U.S. Christian missionary communication from Uganda The case of the Oklahoma-based missionary organization Luket Ministries and their recent promotional video from Uganda as well as pictures from missionary volunteers for Tennessee-based 147 million orphans shed light on several broader issues: How Uganda has become a playground for Am...

One of the recurring themes and aims of the blog is putting contemporary examples of popular communication about development issues into a broader context. The aim is to supplement my academic teaching, research and outreach and to focus on broader contextual issue, for example journalistic development tourism , rather than a specific group of people, an organization or single campaign. The case of the Oklahoma-based missionary organization Luket Ministries and their recent promotional video from Uganda as well as pictures from missionary volunteers for Tennessee-based 147 million orphans shed light on several broader issues: How Uganda has become a playground for American Christian missionary work, how unregulated the industry is, how accountability is easily dismissed as missions simply refer to doing ‘God’s work’, how unwilling or unable many organizations are to engage with constructive criticism in a post-factual media landscape and lastly, how digital media add to new powe...