Topic: Compassion Fatigue Instructor: Jack
Lule On this page are the assignments for Thursday, June 3. DEADLINES: You should have Thursday's assignments completed by Monday, June 7, at 7 p.m.
We've seen that the United States is now the lone superpower, the nation best capable of aiding humanitarian crises around the world. We have spent our conference time thinking about the difficult social and political questions that are raised by this status. We will now talk about another complicating factor: compassion fatigue, a term used to describe a withering of feeling for international crises among the public, governments and the media. A colleague, Susan Moeller, has written a book, Compassion Fatigue, that confronts some of the issues. The book received numerous insightful reviews that extended and interpreted its findings. 1) I would like you to read two of these reviews. One review is by James North, a correspondent writing for The Nation. Another review is by Tom Phillips writing in Contemporary Review. When you are finished with the reviews, please send me an email that addresses these questions: a) How do each of the authors describe media coverage of international crises? b) Do the authors suggest that the news media combat compassion fatigue? If so, how? 2) For our discussion, I would like us to think more deeply about the work of correspondents for CNN and other international news organizations as they deal with international crises. U.S. news organizations often define international news only in terms of disasters, wars and catastrophes. Foreign correspondents thus must confront horror on a regular basis. Covering such horror can take a real toll on journalists. a) I would like you to read an article about this issue in the American Journalism Review, "Confronting the Horror." Pay close attention to the story of Kevin Carter who won a Pulitzer Prize for a disturbing international photograph -- and then killed himself. You can also find some sidebar stories at AJR that provide even more information on the horrors faced by international journalists. If the site is down, find a copy here. I would like you to learn more about Kevin Carter. Please read this 1994 Time magazine story about the death of Kevin Carter. And view the Pulitzer-prize winning photograph that brought Carter such fame and misfortune. b) Please email me your reaction or response. Give me some details about what you found. Again, you can use direct email from this link to jack.lule@lehigh.edu, or just use your usual email. c) Then let's go talk about it in conference. What do you think about the work of foreign correspondents? Are they serving as a conscience for our uninterested society? Or are they often trying to get disturbing, sensational stories? Do they exploit other countries and peoples with their work? Can you see yourself as a foreign correspondent? It's really an interesting
topic so give it some thought and then let's talk about it at our discussion
site. Let me know if you have questions: jack.lule@lehigh.edu. return to J/IR 246 International Communication |
