The horrors of the DR Congo. The rapes, the pillages, the disregard for life, a conflict steeped in vengeance, power over precious resources, and the blood bath of Rwanda's genocide. And as the reports begin to filter through the newspapers and the televisions we become awed by the sheer numbers.
Five million dead since 1998. A place where some 1200 people die every day from disease. Eventually the news coverage will taper out and our attention span as consumers of media along with it.
Susan D Moeller calls this phenomenon compassion fatigue. In her book she describes it as a combination of the public's short attention span, the media's peripatetic journalism, public boredom with international news and the media's preoccupation with crisis covering.
On the one hand, the donor community depends on the media to spotlight the world's disasters. Unfortunately, the media won't cover it until the bodies begin to stack. But this is not the fault of any one particular agent. Journalists often risk their lives to obtain access. Media is handicapped by obstacles that range from oppressive regimes, lack of infrastructure, and costs .
Nonetheless, there are fewer and fewer foreign correspondents. In 1989, ABC, CBC, NBC devoted 4,032 minutes to foreign correspondents. In 1995 this decreased to 1,991 minutes (according to Moeller).Even the average length of these “disaster” stories has decreased, though some argue that the condensed articles of today are tighter and better written.
The question then is for how long will the crisis in the Congo appear on our newspapers until it just vanishes?
