Today’s Video: The media on Haiti, revisited

One year ago today a massive earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale struck near Port-au-Prince and shook most of Haiti. At least 200,000 people died from the tremor, millions were left homeless, and hundreds of buildings tumbled to the ground.

Days after the earthquake, President Rene Preval declared that "Haiti will not die" but in the twelve months since the tremor the country has been on life support. Wild weather, a cholera outbreak, and political upheaval were just some of the maladies faced by quake survivors who for the most part live in the streets or in unsafe tent camps.

As was written in an article on CNN's website, grim reminders of the quake can still be observed while Haitians continue the Herculean task to rebuild their country:

Five days ago, three more bodies were pulled from the rubble in central Port-au-Prince.

In the upcoming days we'll look at several aspects of post-earthquake Haiti such as the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of billions of dollars in foreign donations. Today, however, we want to revisit a video examining the international press response to the earthquake. British comedian and journalist Charlie Brooker criticized how some media outlets shifted their narrative in order to exaggerate the "signs of conflict" among survivors:

Video Source - YouTube
Online Sources - CBS News. BBC News, The Latin Americanist

Today’s Video: Charlie Brooker on Haiti

"I believe it's a distraction for the Haitian people because they are talking more now about 10 people than they are about one million people suffering in the streets," he said.

Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive's anger at the media's focus on 10 U.S. missionaries accused of child kidnapping may be cynically seen as the Haitian government trying to brush aside its own shortcomings. Yet the world press has not been entirely forthcoming and honest in their reporting on a post-earthquake Haiti.

British journalist and author Charlie Brooker's recent look on how the news is reported has become a viral video hit. A few days ago he examined the press coverage of Haiti in his cannot-miss show "Newswipe". As the video below shows, he found that among some bright spots in reporting the media was also guilty of sensationalism and the shameless "search for signs of conflict". (Note that starting at around the 1:50 mark Brooker very briefly touches on Venezuelan relief efforts).

On a personal note, "Newswipe" (and its predecessor "Screenwipe") are truly amazing programs that provide the misanthropic Brooker's astute analysis on the media, television, and pop culture. His observations tend to focus on British press and TV though this impressive takedown of Keith Olbermann and FOX News is a must -see video clip. If you'll forgive me for the hyperbole, Brooker is an absolute genius.

Online Sources - YouTube, BBC News