The earthquake in Haiti was one of the top five deadliest disasters in contemporary history, claiming more than 315,000 lives. The disaster was also one of the most widely covered events in modern history; international media attention helped raise $5.6 billion in funds in the two years following the earthquake. What happened? Where did the money go? Nearly four years after the earthquake, media attention on Haiti has significantly diminished. And yet, living conditions there have improved only slightly and are among the worst in the world: 325,000 people are still living under tents in scores of camps. Haiti is the third hungriest country in the world after Somalia and Afghanistan and the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. 78% of Haitians live on less than $2 US per day. Coverage of issues in Haiti has often been accompanied by media distortion leading to effects such as minimal or no coverage of problems and massive human rights violations.
Today, the country is still seething with problems and yet because the disaster is a thing of the past, Haiti is no longer a primary concern. Humanitarian aid assistance that we helped to provide has fallen away and Haitian's are left to deal with these problems on their own. In a country where there is a lack of literacy and education, a fallen economy, and no solid leadership, rebuilding on their own is a step towards a second disaster. A few situations recently have surfaced, calling attention back to the victims of the earthquake.
Today, the country is still seething with problems and yet because the disaster is a thing of the past, Haiti is no longer a primary concern. Humanitarian aid assistance that we helped to provide has fallen away and Haitian's are left to deal with these problems on their own. In a country where there is a lack of literacy and education, a fallen economy, and no solid leadership, rebuilding on their own is a step towards a second disaster. A few situations recently have surfaced, calling attention back to the victims of the earthquake.
Garment factories in Haiti, the backbone of an effort to revive the country's earthquake-shattered economy, have deprived workers of their wages to keep costs of their T-shirts and other export goods low, according to a report to be issued by a labor rights group. It said that offenders included the Caracol Industrial Park in northern Haiti, which the United States helped build and has cited a centerpiece of reconstruction efforts, and factories that make products for prominent retailers like Gap, Target, and Walmart.
Cholera has killed more than 8,300 Haitians and sickened more than 650,000 in the earthquake-ravaged country, the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, since it first reappeared in October 2010. While the worst of the epidemic has eased, it still kills about 1,000 Haitians a year. Advocates for Haitian victims of the deadly cholera epidemic that first afflicted their country three years ago, said they were taking the step of suing the United Nations, asserting that the organization's peacekeeping force in Haiti was responsible for introducing the disease through sewage contamination from its barracks. United Nations officials have said they are committed to eradicating the cholera, but they have not conceded that the organization was inadvertently responsible for causing it.
The media has a prime role in how much attention we give at any given time to those in need. Once a story is considered old news, the media and the attention of those watching, direct their energy to the newest or most troubling news. What is the answer here? How much attention should be given to old stories? When is it safe to turn our eyes off of victims and those surviving from natural disasters?
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