Reporting Distant Suffering: Photographic Representation of Famine in Turkish Newspapers
Famine is a serious problem that causes millions of people to suffer globally. During the 20th century, over 70 million people died due to famine while millions more had to endure the adverse conditions created by it. It is predicted that the COVID-19 pandemic will trigger a new wave of famine, affe...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Istanbul University Press
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Connectist Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/9E9121E116F04ABD9E3661E9C7291CA0 |
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| Summary: | Famine is a serious problem that causes millions of people to suffer globally. During the 20th century, over 70 million people died due to famine while millions more had to endure the adverse conditions created by it. It is predicted that the COVID-19 pandemic will trigger a new wave of famine, affecting 130 million people globally. The discourse on famine articulated by the media, which governs the visibility of distant people’s suffering and provides the audience with resources to imagine and understand that suffering is significant. Accordingly, this research sought to analyze the aspects of famine that are represented in photographs. A total of 517 news stories containing 659 photos were collected from the online editions of 30 daily newspapers published in Turkey between April 20, 2020, and August 30, 2021. Content and semiotic analysis was used in tandem as research methods in this study. The data were categorized as ‘human in famine,’ ‘approved personnel, relief distributors, and aid supplies,’ and ‘famine space.’ The results demonstrated that stereotyped representations of famine are common in pictures. It was determined that children’s photographs were used disproportionately often to depict famine; bodies in pain were a prevalent theme in the photographs; aid givers and aid materials were included in the representation of the famine; and aid centers and camps were the most frequently photographed locations. |
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| ISSN: | 2636-8943 |