The world of cartographers Gall-Peter is characterised by all land and sea enjoying the same share of the mapped/ illustrated space. The result is a much bigger-looking Africa when compared with more familiar projections, notably Mercator.
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This is the second part of a series looking at people, places, institutions or subject areas that the news media does not serve well. Tom Chivers looked at science yesterday. Once the series is complete we’ll be polling subscribers to UnHerd’s free mailing list – asking which UnHerd author they most agree with.
“If I have to tell people where it is, Katie, it’s not going in the paper,” a British tabloid news editor told me, when I was working in communications for an international NGO.
We were talking about Mali.
To be fair, it was back in 2012, before the French had sent in troops, the big international hotel in capital city Bamako had been raided, or footballer Kante had signed with Chelsea.
There was an ongoing food crisis, driven by climate change, rumbling conflict, and alarming levels of movement of people: all the indicators that competent international development practitioners recognise as warnings of imminent humanitarian crisis. I had stories I wanted to pitch, which I reckoned were useful, interesting and prescient.
But my contact made an important point.
When it comes to Africa, or other less economically developed parts of the world, western countries only tend to cover their news when we ‘know where it is’.
Especially when it comes to a slow onset situation. Seeing what’s coming doesn’t qualify as ‘news’ in a media regime which prioritises the new and (sometimes) urgent over the important. Early warning signs are not enough: humanitarian workers have to watch more and more children die before the world pays attention1. Look at South Sudan.
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How do we ‘know where it is’?
My tabloid friend was right. Brits didn’t know about Mali (notwithstanding Roger Hargreaves’ children’s stories with characters based in Timbuctoo). Why would we? They speak French there, drive on the wrong side of the road, and we don’t visit for safari holidays or gap year backpacking.
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