The Live Aid Legacy

Posted on July 29, 2010 at 6:36 am

If you don’t read any of the rest of the articles in the Media’s Impact on Aid collection, I urge you to at least read this one. Here are some of VSO’s findings from a 2001 research project, the full report can be found here (pdf). Thanks to Dochas Network for bringing it to my attention.

The Live Aid Legacy

Starving children with flies around their eyes: 80% of the British public strongly associate the developing world with doom-laden images of famine, disaster and Western aid. Sixteen years on from Live Aid, these images are still top of mind and maintain a powerful grip on the British psyche.

Victims are seen as less than human: Stereotypes of deprivation and poverty, together with images of Western aid, can lead to an impression that people in the developing world are helpless victims. 74% of the British public believe that these countries “depend on the money and knowledge of the West to progress.”

False sense of superiority and inferiority: The danger of stereotypes of this depth and magnitude is the psychological relationship they create between the developed and the developing world, which revolves around an implicit sense of superiority and inferiority.

Powerful giver and grateful receiver: The Live Aid Legacy defines the roles in our relationship with the developing world. We are powerful, benevolent givers; they are grateful receivers. There is no recognition that we in Britain may have something to gain from the relationship.

Confidence in out-of-date knowledge: Researchers remarked on the respondents’ confidence in such one-dimensional images. British consumers are not hesitating or seeking reassurance for their views. Unconsciously accumulated images of the developing world have led to a certainty on the part of consumers that they have all the facts.

Anger and Blame

Anger at being conned: When consumers are presented with an alternative view of the developing world they often express anger and a feeling of being conned or misled. The target for this anger is mainly the media, and occasionally development charities, who are seen as the main sources of information. The strongest call is to media, particularly television.

More than half want the whole story: 55% of British people say they want to see more of the everyday life, history and culture of the developing world on television. They want to see the positives as well as the negatives, and they want context and background to a news story.

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Related Posts:

Aid Organization’s Advertising Images

Media’s Impact on Aid

“The Burn Rate” – Media’s Impact on Aid

Do Charity Fundraising Activities Hurt the Very People They’re Trying to Help?

Kiva, Heifer International, American Red Cross, and Donor Trust

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