HOW THE MEDIA AND STATE CAPITALISE ON THE PERCEIVED SUFFERING OF GLOBAL SOUTH CHILDREN THROUGH THEIR IMAGES

March 16, 2020

Aylan Kurdi in the European headlines

This essay, concerning two fundamental case studies from the recent Syrian war, tackles how images of children from the Global South are used in Western media and social media. Using critical examples, the function of these images – as making supposed horrors concrete and urgent – is seen as an impetus for potential state intervention. Imperialist conduct, in this state intervention, stems from the West’s backward mentality, its perceived superiority. In the West, this perception facilitates a culture of lying, in the media, in order to re-confirm prejudices. Alternative media sources, by contrast, are crucial to the deconstruction of such beliefs; examination of such a source, a Twitter account, is presented as forensic analysis. Conclusively, the media is shown to further a state’s imperialist agenda in the context of the West. This paper follows after a previous one published by the Art Columnist, ‘”Gaze” in Documentary Film’.

‘How the media and state capitalise on the perceived suffering of Global South children through their images’

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