Opinion: The complexities of ethical communications are worth the effort

In 2017, singer Ed Sheeran became another example of a celebrity whose campaign to raise funds for children in Africa sparked a backlash. A Comic Relief video that featured Sheeran vowing to help children orphaned by an Ebola outbreak in Liberia raised accusations of “poverty porn” and “white saviorism.” Campaigns such as this one, critics said, focus too much on the celebrity, lack nuance, reinforce stereotypes, and often stigmatize the very people they are trying to help.

As a communications professional for more than two decades who is relatively new to the field of global development, I was torn when I learned of this controversy: The campaign was a clear success, raising over $100 million. But as the communications manager for OLAM, a network of Jewish and Israeli organizations that work in low- and middle-income countries, I’ve come to realize that the impact of our work extends far beyond the money we raise.

The continually evolving field of global development ethics compels those who work in it to consider all the implications of our actions. For communications professionals, these include the words and images we use, the stories we tell, and the way we tell them: Does our language perpetuate harmful narratives? Do those featured truly understand how their words and images will be used? Can sharing a story put an individual at risk?