Tobias Denskus: Communicating for Development

The Good Problem

Joining me today is Associate Professor Tobias Denskus from Malmø University in Sweden, and we're talking about communication in the development sector.

Communicating well can be tricky at the best of times, but when it comes to communicating about development issues, it becomes even tricker. For a long time, the vast majority of charities communicated their work through fundraising campaigns, featuring stereotypical representations of the poor and vulnerable in order to elicit donations.Think about the ads featuring starving African children, with flyblown eyes and distended bellies. Growing up, this was the standard for charity advertising – and it seemed that charities were trying to one up each other in a race for scare donor funds - who can publish the most heartbreaking image?

What about media? What responsibility does media have to portray the poor and vulnerable in dignified and respectful ways, while also being careful to avoid perpetuating the white saviour complex?

Tobias teaches a Masters program in Communication for Development, and conducts research on how communication can lead to learning and challenge white saviorism, stereotypical campaigns and superficial influencers on Instagram. Tobias runs the excellent blog, Aidnography and a Twitter account of the same name.

Tobias is reading Understanding Libya Since Gaddafi by Ulf Laessing and People in Glass Houses by Shirley Hazzard

Tobias is listening to the ReThinking Development Podcast, UN Dispatch by Mark Goldberg, and The Missing Cryptoqueen by BBC