Mass Media and Discourse on Famine in the Horn of Africa

Abstract

Mass media coverage of famine in the Horn of Africa is examined. Analysis reveals imposition of a narrative structure through the use of standard rhetorical techniques to construct famine as an ideological parable. This parable demonstrates the abuse of western charity by treacherous Third World regimes allied with the Soviet Union. Media reports are related to other discursive constructions of Africa which offer a similar narrative structure.