Compassion Fatigue: How the Media Sell Disease, Famine, War and Death

by Susan D. Moeller

In her impassioned new book, Compassion Fatigue, Moeller warns that the American media threatens our ability to understand the world around us. Why do the media cover the world in the way that they do? Are they simply following the marketplace demand for tabloid-style international news? Or are they creating an audience that has seen too much--or too little--to care? Through a series of case studies of the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse"--disease, famine, death and war--Moeller investigates how newspapers, newsmagazines and television have covered international crises over the last two decades, identifying the ruts into which the media have fallen and revealing why.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sociology, Science, Photography

398 pages, Hardcover

First published September 23, 1998

Reviews

[Michael Mcclelland]

Given that journalism is not simply a recounting of the events that occurred during a day, but an information source that is budgeted, biased and blinkered; the why and the how of news communication is a complex issue. This book initially struggles through its introduction in an attempt to touch upon all the issues, but once it focuses on some particular case studies, the author finds herself on more solid ground.



Why does one story get more play than another? What are the stages of coverage? Why do some humanitarian disasters prompt more donations than others? Why is so much journalism built on lazy metaphors? And is it creating a less compassionate, less informed, nationalistic audience as a result? How much do production costs determine what we hear about in the world? How much does the availability of pictures determine how long we hear of it?



Yes, the answers may be as simple as you might expect, but seeing them demonstrated, and hearing them at work in the words of the news creators, is a worthwhile exercise.

[Kevin]

Susan D. Moeller concludes Compassion Fatigue with an antidote that affirms the importance of stories like Joseph's personal story, and the importance of having him speak in schools, churches, to service groups--anywhere people are willing to hear and learn from him.

"We need to be put in as close contact as possible with people at risk. We need nuanced and in-depth coverage of crises and we need to hear and see the human side too. The former without the later is boring, the latter without the former is sensationalized. To get it right, the media need to think of both the short term and the logn term. They need to think of both their own interests and the 'public interest.'" (321)

[Summer]

Interesting book on how American media fails in covering international tragedy. This was written in 1999, but the patterns that emerge in reporting on war, genocide, famine, and the like, are still in place today.

[Emma Christina]

Very interesting and informative read, would recommend to anyone interested in the sociology of suffering.