‘Africa’ in the media: between starving children and smiling children

By LSE MSc student Daniel Mebarek-Daza Stories and images of hunger, conflict and underdevelopment have for long functioned as metonyms of Africa: a continent of vast ethnic, linguistic and geographical diversity. These narratives have reinforced the reductionist discourse of Africa as a site of monolith suffering, permanent crisis and hopelessness. Perhaps one of the most pronounced images to emerge from this trend has been that of starving children: a depiction which has largely been used by aid agencies in their campaigns to stir the reaction and the charity of the masses.