Photographer Awarded TED Prize for Work on War, Disease

The power of the news media to make a real difference in tackling a major disease is being actively explored in a unique private sector project

Wired magazine reports that photographer James Nachtwey received the 2007 Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) Prize for his work documenting images of war, disease and political unrest across the globe for over 25 years. As a result, he got a $100,000 prize to spend on a 'wish': a project that he otherwise wouldn't get a chance to pursue.

Nachtwey chose to "share an underreported worldwide story, prove the power of news photography in the digital age and raise awareness about a global health issue that has the potential to become a worldwide pandemic — Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis (XDR TB)."

Wired.com: What does TED have the potential to do for this cause?

Nachtwey: When an issue is more widely known, a lot of things become facilitated — funding, new programs, treatment and scientific research. And it becomes something that has to be dealt with.

Wired.com: How will the internet help spread the message about this disease?

Nachtwey: Because there are so few pages in the traditional press for serious subjects, the internet has really taken the place of the traditional press to get those stories out there. One of the purposes of journalism is to create awareness. If we’re not aware of something, we can’t deal with it. Tuberculosis has a cure. If you take action on TB, you will get results.

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Peace and communications for development

As we mark the International Day of Peace, 21 September, how apt that the World Bank announces two new publications on peace and communications for development:

Policy briefs of both are available:
Towards A New Policy Model for Media and Communication in Post-Conflict and Fragile States
The media and communication sector plays a complex role in post-conflict and fragile states. In states experiencing conflict, violent political upheaval or complete collapse, the media can provide important, reliable, and timely humanitarian and political information in the midst of chaos, helping people to navigate their tumultuous surroundings. Moving toward the longer term, media and communication processes can enable citizens to engage in dialogue, serve as platforms for debate and oversight, anchor governance reforms, and facilitate peacebuilding and poverty reduction. Yet, despite its importance, the media and communication sector is frequently an afterthought in post-conflict reconstruction. This paper calls for a new model in post-conflict and fragile states, one that prioritizes communication's role in governance and peacebuilding. Authors: Shanthi Kalathil, with John Langlois and Adam Kaplan

The Missing Link—Fostering Positive Citizen-State Relations in Post-Conflict Environments
High expectations for a quick “peace dividend”, a public that does not trust the state, and state-citizen relations severed by years of exclusion are among the most challenging issues national governments, and the international community supporting them, encounter in planning and executing post-conflict recovery programs. These issues are too often neglected by policy makers. Experience has shown the cost of this oversight. Because of their direct relation to long-term stability and governance, dealing with these issues needs to be at the very heart of post-conflict work. This study applies the public sphere as a framework to deal with the “connective tissue” of state-building and calls for change in current post-conflict assistance policy and practice. Author: Henriette von Kaltenborn-Stachau

OECD paper on 'Building public awareness about development'

New publication by the OECD:
"Building public awareness about development – communicator, educators and evaluation"
By Annette Scheunpflug, Professor of Philosophy of Education at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nuremberg, and Ida McDonnell, policy analyst at the OECD Development Centre and co-ordinator of the Informal Network of DAC Development Communicators (DevCom).

Blurb: Just how effectively are OECD-based aid agencies in communicating about poverty, inequality and development co-operation? The honest answer is: we don’t really know. Very little attention is paid to evaluating the communications, advocacy and education activities of aid agencies. This Policy Brief shows policy makers how to create a culture of learning for all public awareness-raising work. In doing so, it addresses hands-on questions. Can an evaluation even measure the impact of a campaign on public attitudes? Who should pay for the evaluation and how much should it cost? How to approach resistance to and fear of evaluation?
[PDF]