Daily Darfur: Top 5 American News Sources on Darfur

Published December 30, 2008 @ 11:15AM PT

Tara Sonenshine writes, for the Huffington Post, of the astonishing decline of American journalism---and in particular, the decline in coverage of international issue. Sonenshine cites a study by the Pew Research Center that found that" 64% of participating newspaper editors said their papers had reduced the space for international news." Sonenshine asks,

"It is easy to understand why news junkies who like foreign affairs would be rattled by these downturns. But why should a national security policymaker worry about such trends?"

Read the whole piece for her answer to her question, but for our purposes here, she uses Darfur to illuminate her first point:

"Firstly, without public understanding, knowledge and, ultimately, support of foreign affairs, it is impossible to build a consensus for action.

Take the case of Darfur. In recent times, we have seen an upsurge in interest and activism at the grassroots level in the United States, galvanized by the crisis in Darfur, and driven, in part, by horrific video and stories of rape, pillaging and death. The grassroots activism has brought together a remarkably wide and diverse alliance of citizen groups -- left and right, religious and secular, urban and rural, young and old, from all races and backgrounds -- coming together in the shared belief that we as Americans can do more to halt needless massacres of innocents. And that pressure is then placed on Congress and the Executive Branch to take assertive action. Public pressure generates political will. But if the journalists are not there to report, will the public know what is happening around the world?"

On that very, very good note, I'd like to recognize US news outlets whose coverage of Darfur this year has been outstanding---and consistently so:

1. The Christian Science Monitor

2. Nicholas Kristof at the New York Times

3. The Washington Post

4. The International Herald Tribune (The Global Edition of the NYT)

5. Voice of America

[Photo: Nicholas Kristof in Sudan.]

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Author

Michelle became involved in the anti-genocide cause at a young age, and has been involved in various activist endeavors, including the Teach Against Genocide pilot campaigns, ever since.