Whose lives are important?: A media analysis of the 2010 Haiti and Pakistan disasters

In 2010, Haiti and Pakistan experienced immense suffering, death and destruction as these countries faced two of the world’s greatest humanitarian crises. The earthquake in Haiti was very well reported. Celebrities, organizations and individuals recognized the need for help and contributed generously to various relief foundations. Unlike the attention Haiti received, the flood in Pakistan received far less media coverage. The lack of media attention in Pakistan arguably limited the public’s awareness of the flood and reduced the perception of urgency and need for humanitarian support (Winthrop, 2010). This MRP focuses on the news media in the service of reporting on international crises and investigates how the media takes an ideological position when reporting and presenting events to its audience. In this paper, I demonstrate how reporting in a major Canadian newspaper becomes an exercise in ideological power and influences audiences (Fairclough, 2001).