Shame on National Geographic



It's been an up-and-down couple of days, and for that reason I'm going to post a little bit of bitterness here.

This National Geographic article from last month is one of the worst examples of cliche journalism I've seen in a while. Colombia really seems to attract cliche journalists--people who look for the story of the drug lord, the photograph of the funeral, or the quote from the impoverished. It's pure sensationalism, because there's always an audience for this type of horrific story, but it doesn't tell us anything new; it only shocks us.

When I lived in Bogota 4 years ago, I had some experience with photojournalists hoping to catch the gruesome on film. "To document the situation," they said, but they knew this would bring them some attention. As a cliche, it's as egregious as a photograph of an elderly person dressed in traditional clothes, with a Coca-Cola in hand, or maybe with a pair of Nikes. Oh, you mean globalization is threatening the culture of indigenous peoples? No way. Oh, you mean drugs and civil war have made life harsh for a great number of Colombians? You don't say.

But National Geographic didn't go for the stories of hope and inspiration that have come out of this situation. Instead, they opted to follow some of the nastiest stories out there. Pedro Medina of Yo Creo en Colombia makes a great point: of the 17 stories in the March edition, this is the only negative story. But it makes the cover. Because it's sensationalist.

In an earlier post I remarked that I think it's a shame that another documentary has come out showing the disaster of Colombia's civil war. But from everything I've read, it was done in good taste, and it manages to evoke the human side of events. This article, on the other hand, reads more like a script for The Sopranos, and worse, presents the story as if it were indicative of life in Medellin. In fact, violence in Colombia is at its lowest levels in 16 years, and, as NG mentions in its "More to Explore" section (which from what I can tell isn't in the print version), things are looking up for Medellin. But this isn't the story they tell.

The victims of this cliche journalism are the Colombians who are working like mad to show the world the progress they've made, and to change the country's image that no longer applies the way it once did. Eventually I'm sure they'll succeed, even in spite of article such as this one.