Blog Assignment 1: Media Coverage of Haiti, CNN

I chose to study CNN coverage in the role of media relating to the on-going cholera epidemic in Haiti. It seems to me that looking back at the beginning of the epidemic that CNN in particular was not responsible for the conditions that led to the epidemic itself, but, that being said, I do believe they have not aided the situation as it has worsened over time. CNN coverage itself focused on aid and getting information to the globe on how things had gotten to such a severe point in Haiti, and what the possibilities of helping out really were, but they did this while instilling fear in the public, which I feel ended up deterring aid. I definitely feel that media is not meant to be part of the problem or the solution, that they should remain outsiders and just give information to the public about these global issues, but they need to be held accountable for what they print. Media like CNN is especially not a humanitarian group, they are there to find out what the root of issues are and what that country or others could have done to prevent the issue. One thing CNN is doing right is by trying to maintain that these people still need aid, even after a years time and billions of dollars being sent. Even one year after the earthquake in Haiti, CNN reported “Five ways you can still help in Haiti” (Angley, 2011), showing that it is still an ongoing issue. We all want the epidemic to end; we can only hope that the media continues to raise awareness of how bad it still is in Haiti, and that we need to focus on that, not on scaring the readers and creating a larger separation between the world and places in need.
While looking at Philip Gourevich’s article “Alms Dealers”, you can see that media can and has played large rolls in creating more harm than good in aid situations. This turns into situations like in Haiti, where in order to get more attention from aid groups, the government and media, people purposely cause large disruptions (Watson, 2010). They create barricades on roads so people cannot get through, or they have large protests, to get more media attention. So, media can be blamed for these situations getting worse, the people being affected in these situations become so afraid of getting a disease like cholera that they cause havoc to get more attention from the global media, hoping to finally be saved (Watson, 2010). CNN in particular is one media outlet that reacts to these outcries and jumps at the chance to show the world how bad it is in Haiti. These media outlets should know that it is not really their place to solve large problems like cholera in Haiti, they can report about them, but they are not these countries saviors.
When the outbreak first began, CNN coverage was quite basic, telling its viewers the death toll, talking about the physical origins of the outbreak, and how the epidemic could be contained and reduced (CNN Wire Staff, 2010). This coverage continued like this through late October 2010, and continued with an almost uplifting tone. This coverage then turned a little sour, when people started to speculate where cholera came from in Haiti, as there had been no reported outbreaks since the 1960’s (Young, 2010). They told the readers that the outbreak would only get worse before it got better and that death tolls were increasing rapidly. CNN started to create fear in the readers minds, telling of cholera cases moving to Florida, and tourists traveling to the Dominican Republic were warned that they could be infected there as well (Young, 2010). These are the circumstances where I believe media like CNN goes wrong. They create a separation between the place of need and those who can actually help. If you instill fear in people they are going to be a lot less likely to help those who need it. Fear never helps us and I believe that it is a terrible tactic for these media reporters to use.