Aidnography

Representations of the aid industry in mainstream media and how journalism communicates development are a recurring theme in my work and on this blog. The current debate in the UK featuring the Daily Mail was part of my last post , but the fantastic 50 Shades of Aid facebook group highlighted an article from Nepal ’s MyRepublica platform that led to an extensive discussion on aid transparency, ethical journalism – and overheads. Sangeet Sangroula ’s article Nepal Red Cross spends millions from quake funds on 'luxuries' seems to aim at provoking exactly the kind of comments that were posted underneath the article: This is a case of ‘ blatant misuse of donated funds ’ ! I am fully aware of the problematic relationships between local and global elites in Nepal and the development industrial complex (not least because it was a key part of my PhD research ), but I also firmly believe that calls for transparency and accountability should be met with professional, ethical jour

Hi all, A busy week for curating development news : More on Yegna, the state of development journalism & anti-aid campaigns; report writing has not adapted to the digital age; Oxfam app between clicktivism & digital transparency; what’s next for US aid? dropping bombs (literally…); ICT4D has an obligation to protect the vulnerable; how to become a local aid worker? How to give to beggars? The par o dy of doing good; being a proud humanitarian; ruling the world by numbers course Our Digital Lives: Background readings on ‘fake news’ Publications: Instagramming pregnancy; safe abortions in conflict zones Academia: What should women who are planning to join academ ia know? Rigging PISA; an anthropology of stock exchanges Enjoy! New from aidnography The poor state of development journalism: Daily Mail, BBC & 'Ethiopian Spice Girls' The Daily Mail campaign against ‘wasteful’ foreign aid is in full swing and in the latest example we can see that it has real impa

The Daily Mail campaign against ‘wasteful’ foreign aid is in full swing (see my earlier reflections in my 2016 blogging review ) and in the latest example we can see that it has real impact as DFID promptly executes the Mail’s campaign wishes. In addition, the Mail’s campaigning in the age of ‘post-factual’ journalism is unfortunately taken up by the mainstream media echo chamber and finds willing amplifiers, for example the BBC . BBC ’s article ‘Yegna, Ethiopia's 'Spice Girls', lose UK funding’ is a telling example of how the Mail’s discourse is slowly but surely poisoning the debate around development in the UK. As we are embarking on a new term in our Communication for Development MA program, it is also an important case study I will discuss with students. So let’s have closer look at the framing of the article: after reports that pop group Yegna had received millions from UK taxpayers. The reference to ‘UK taxpayers’ is usually the first red flag that news items

Hi all, Welcome to 2017! The first link review in the new year features reviews of 2016 from a development and communication perspective-as well as fresh links and new content to get you reading and thinking during these cold January days! Development news: Development lingo you want to avoid in 2017; cash transfers work; WWF in human rights abuse complaint; Smart phones help expectant mothers in Kenya; sanitary pads, menstruation & the challenge of keeping girls in schools in Uganda; UN leadership needs more than women to become feminist; local aid work in North Carolina; 5 development career tips; photography & short stories.  Our digital lives: How to make sense of media, technology and politics? Philanthropy and news organizations Academia: An anthropologist in the textile mill; open science; academics & emotional literacy Enjoy! New from aidnography My development blogging & communication review 2016 Now in its 6th installment, I am reviewing another year

Dear all, In some ways, the 6th annual review (yes, this was a regular post in all previous years, 2011 , 2012 , 2013 , 2014 & 2015 !) is the second half of reflections that started in September when I shared What I learned from curating thousands of #globaldev articles on the occasion of my 200th Links & Contents I Liked post.  As many of my readers are returning from holidays and students are commencing new semesters this is still a very good starting point for many resources that provide an overview over debates pertinent to the contemporary aid industry. How to (dis)engage with post-factual attacks on development? As academic teacher, researcher and communicator this has been one of the biggest questions in 2016. As the Daily Mail launches yet another attack on ‘wasteful’ British aid spending , I am left wondering how ‘we’ can respond , when ‘we’ can disengage and how these dynamics affect the foundations of what we are doing in the academic industry. In short, after a