The UN and the Mainstream Media- A Little Too Star-struck?

Photo by Manish Swarup/Associate Press via The Guardian

I think The Guardian has some really great social commentary, and I often find myself agreeing with their positions. 

On Thursday Marina Hyde posted on The Guardian's Life and Style blog a commentary on Angelina Jolie's recent capture of a humanitarian award from the UN Refugee Agency. According to the agency's report, Jolie was "paid lavish tribute" Monday night during a "slick ceremony" in Switzerland honoring her work. 

Jolie has won at least three other UN awards in the past decade, most of them also presented in rich and swanky ceremonies probably costing thousands if not millions of dollars. 

Hyde critiques this practice by saying: "But what a strange business this is – this hiring of luxury hotel ballrooms, this renting of limousine fleets, this preparing of five-star banquets for invited bigwigs, this donning of floorlength-and-fabulous gowns. No doubt many of the providers contribute their services for free or at cost, but it seems to be a most idiosyncratic way of helping some of the world's poorest people. In fact, I was almost about to make the preposterous suggestion that donating the value of those services directly to the needy would be rather more helpful, but then I remembered that under that weirdo economic model there wouldn't be a fancy party or an insufficiently self-deprecating speech from the star of Kung Fu Panda."

I think Hyde hit it right on the mark there. When you type "UN Refugee Agency award" into Google, the only mainstream news results you get are ones that begin with Angelina Jolie, despite the fact that other organizations also received awards, namely a Yemeni group helping Somali refugees. While that group was mentioned in mainstream articles, they were only given top publicity (i.e. headline recognition) from human rights websites or Middle Eastern news sources. 

Hyde makes a very important point when she speaks of the UN's misguided attempts to raise awareness of important issues through celebrities like Angelina Jolie. Jolie doesn't raise awareness to the issue, she eclipses it, Hyde claims. And she eclipses the work of all the people who devote their lives to these issues, never earning the same recognition she seems to garner in spades. 

While Jolie is certainly very passionate about the work she does for the UN, it is also safe to say that her work is not nearly as extensive as the work of full-time humanitarian aid workers, who give much more of their time and effort than Jolie ever has. Why does it take a celebrity and a fancy ceremony to earn publicity for the crises facing the world, when such pomp is so far removed from the discussions and recognition truly needing to take place?

It’s partly the media’s fault, for refusing to cover these stories without the presence of a famous name, and it’s partly the UN’s fault, for catering to the showbiz glitz that is sometimes demanded of them to make a headline. But as Hyde mentioned, the celebrities do more to eclipse the issue than raise awareness for it, so what does the publicity matter anyway?

The UN should rethink its priorities, and give a little more thinking to the recognition they bestow. 

Full text of Hyde's Article