In the world of humanitarian aid, images are a powerful tool. From photographs of famine-stricken communities to viral social media campaigns, visual media has long shaped how global audiences perceive suffering and respond to calls for help. But with great power comes great responsibility, and the representation of humanitarian crises in media is fraught with challenges and dilemmas.
This post draws on our Head of Learning’s, Dr Valérie Gorin, insightful chapter, “Media Representations of Humanitarianism,” featured in the Handbook on Humanitarianism and Inequality (2024). She examines how media portrayals, rooted in historical and cultural biases, have influenced global humanitarianism. Let’s unpack the themes and dilemmas she highlights and connect them to current debates in the humanitarian sector.

The Visual Politics of Suffering
The concept of visual politics refers to the use of visual imagery—such as photographs, videos, infographics, and other media—to influence public opinion, shape narratives, and construct meaning in social, cultural, and political contexts. It examines how visuals are not merely passive representations of reality but active tools that reproduce values, ideologies, and power dynamics.
From the late 19th century to the present, media and humanitarian organisations have thus learned to work together to raise awareness, mobilise support, and fund aid efforts. However, these collaborations often rely on reductive, stereotyped representations framed mainly by and for the Global North. Dr Valérie Gorin explains how early missionary and colonial photographs depicted suffering populations in ways that reinforced racialised, imperialist and paternalistic narratives. Even today, the images that dominate fundraising campaigns—starving children, distressed mothers—reduce complex crises to simplified, often exploitative tropes.
These images have long privileged a vision of the suffering rather than a language of equality. Such visual strategies might succeed in enhancing international audiences’ immersive and affective experience by evoking empathy and donations, but they risk commodifying suffering, alienating affected communities, and perpetuating power asymmetries between the Global North and South.
Traditional humanitarian representations, which foster an ethos of compassion by distinguishing between those deemed worthy of attention and those not, have evolved in recent years. Aid agencies have shifted from relying on a “politics of pity” to adopting approaches characterised by irony and self-reflection. An example of this shift was set by the Norwegian Students and Academics’ International Assistance Fund. Using satirical videos like “Africa for Norway,” they launched the Radi-Aid awareness campaign (2013–2017) to highlight the need for more nuanced and equitable representations.
Ethical Dilemmas in Media Representations
One of the central issues discussed in the article is the tension between evoking compassion and respecting dignity. For example, the 1984 Ethiopian famine brought stark images of suffering into living rooms worldwide, driving massive relief efforts. Yet, these same images erased local agency and oversimplified the political and man-made causes of the crisis. The production of humanitarian images has often been the result of Western photojournalists. Motivated by commercial interests or the desire to document suffering, their work has drawn criticism for aestheticising suffering and profiting from distress.
Today, organisations are trying to balance these tensions by adopting ethical guidelines like the DOCHAS Code of Conduct. These guidelines emphasise dignity, interculturality, confidentiality, and fairness in the portrayal of affected populations. They also raise concerns about partnerships with photographers, and possible bias and exploitation. One key issue is the notion of consent – and the extent to which it can be informed – of people and the use of their images or words in humanitarian representations.
However, initiatives like participatory photography, where local communities take ownership of their narratives, offer promising alternatives. The article emphasises the need to revisit commonly used tropes about certain situations or groups of people, such as migration or children, to avoid perpetuating essentialised and stereotypical representations.
Modern Media and the Rise of Alternative Narratives
The digital age has introduced new opportunities to challenge dominant narratives and to address the visual underrepresentation of specific minority groups. The article highlights how grassroots media, citizen journalism, and platforms like the Everyday Africa photoblog are reshaping perceptions of humanitarian crises. These efforts move beyond the “white savior” trope, showing resilience, agency, and diversity in affected communities.
The global media landscape was long dominated by Western narratives, although there are pushes to decentralise hegemonic norms to include non-Western regions. Traditional outlets like AP or BBC World Service have been joined by newer players like Xinhua News Agency and Al Jazeera, which provide alternative perspectives to CNN-style coverage. Notably, the 21st century has seen more positive and diverse portrayals of different regions, driven by participatory information flows and growing skepticism of traditional media, reducing reliance on Northern-centric narratives.
However, challenges remain. Some areas affected by conflicts and disasters are still neglected in international news coverage. Additionally, “clickbait humanitarianism” risks prioritising shock value over nuanced storytelling. Finally, fake news and disinformation in humanitarian contexts threaten to undermine trust and accountability.
Why This Matters Today
In a world saturated with images on digital platforms and the increase of AI imagery, this analysis invites us to critically reflect on the ethics of humanitarian communication and harmful practices. How can we tell stories of suffering without exploiting those who suffer? How do we ensure that affected communities are partners in storytelling, not passive subjects? The way forward lies in fostering reflexivity, inclusivity, accountability, and innovation in humanitarian media. Aid organisations, journalists, and audiences alike must question the stories they create and consume. By prioritising collaboration, complexity, and protection, we can challenge harmful stereotypes and build a more equitable approach to global solidarity.
This critical discussion is part of the broader themes explored in the Handbook on Humanitarianism and Inequality. The volume examines how historical legacies and social markers such as colonialism, gender, and class intersect with contemporary humanitarian efforts and produce inequalities. The volume brings together esteemed experts from both the Global North and South to introduce crucial research ethics frameworks and methodologies for studying these intersections.