‘Reading NGOs visually’—Implications of visual images for NGO management

Dogra, Nandita

doi:10.1002/jid.1307

Cited by 53 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…39 Nandita Dogra has linked the growing concern with images and the shift from what are perceived as 'negative' to 'positive' images to NGOs' increasing emphasis on education and advocacy in the 1990s. 40 I argue further that it is the incorporation of NGOs into the structures of 'an emerging system of transnational governmentality' which has primarily informed the new types of representations produced by them. 41 In 1989 the Practical Guidelines adopted by the General Assembly of European NGOs in its Code of Conduct on Images and Messages Relating to the Third World (since updated to 'Code of Conduct on Images and Messages') stated that:…”

Section: 'New' Representations and The Changing Role Of Ngosmentioning

confidence: 98%

‘Race’, Gender and Neoliberalism: changing visual representations in development

Wilson

2011

Third World Quarterly

143

106

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This article examines the increasing use of 'positive', active images of 'poor women in developing countries' by development institutions, in relation to several interlinked factors: critiques of earlier representations of 'Third World women' as an essentialised category of 'passive victims'; the appropriation-and transformation-within neoliberal discourses of development from the 1990s onwards of concepts of agency and empowerment; and changes in the role of development NGOs in the same period. Through a discussion of recent publicity campaigns by Oxfam Unwrapped, the Nike Foundation and Divine chocolate, the article examines the specific and gendered ways in which these more recent visual productions are racialised, exploring, in particular, parallels and continuities between colonial representations of women workers and today's images of micro-entrepreneurship within the framework of neoliberal globalisation. The article concludes that, like their colonial predecessors, contemporary representations obscure relations of oppression and exploitation, and work to render collective challenges to the neoliberal model invisible.The ideas in this article have emerged from two interrelated areas of my research: first, an ongoing exploration of questions of 'race' and racism in contemporary development and, second, an analysis of the appropriation and transformation of feminist concepts by neoliberal development discourses. The paper addresses the shift to 'positive images' of women in the global South by international NGOs, donor governments, the World Bank and other development institutions over the past two decades. I provide a preliminary (and necessarily brief) account of how 'race' and racism have historically and conceptually been inscribed in notions of development, and how these processes have been gendered. I go on to describe how, partly in response to Third World feminist critiques, the notion of women's 'agency' has become ubiquitous within approaches to gender and development (GAD), and has been incorporated in neoliberal development discourses, with

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Section: 'New' Representations and The Changing Role Of Ngosmentioning

confidence: 98%

‘Race’, Gender and Neoliberalism: changing visual representations in development

Wilson

2011

Third World Quarterly

143

106

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…For example, Dogra (2007) found that those exposed to nonprofit organizations' photographs did not react favorably when shown images that were emotionally manipulative (e.g., guilt inducing) or that could be perceived as exploiting the organizations' clients. Instead, they supported imagery that relayed positive stories.…”

Section: Publicity Photographs and Media Relationsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Painting a picture of America's nonprofit foundations: a content analysis of public relations photographs distributed through online wire services

Waters

Wang

2011

J of Philanthropy and Mktg

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Studies have shown that nearly 75% of news coverage in print publications stem from public relations information subsidies, such as news releases, fact sheets, and position papers. Often, organizations send photographs along with these materials in hopes that the media will publish these pictures; thereby, increasing readership of the news story and maximizing the organization's exposure to key audiences. This study examines 339 randomly sampled photographs distributed by American nonprofit foundations through online news wire services from 2006 to 2009. The results indicate that the majority of photographs are staged rather than more intriguing live-action photographs. The implications of these results are further discussed with formal suggestions for improving this element of media relations.

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“…Despite the intensity of the discussion, surprisingly little is known about the scope of problematizing representations in the media. Some studies argue that over time there has been a shift among NGOs towards more ‘positive’ or de‐problematizing representations (Clark, ; Dogra, ). Other studies suggest that, overall, media imagery of global poverty has remained much the same (DFID, ; VSO, ).…”

Section: Global Poverty In the Mediamentioning

confidence: 99%

In Search of the Pitiful Victim: A Frame Analysis of Dutch, Flemish and British Newspapers and NGO‐Advertisements

Vossen

Gorp

Schulpen

2016

J of Intl Development

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This article contributes to the ongoing debate on the representation of global poverty in Western media. Both NGOs and journalists are being criticized for their one‐sided emphasis on the misery and dependency of people in developing countries. The objective of this paper is to measure the extent of such problematizing representation in newspaper articles and NGO‐advertisements. A frame analysis was conducted of 876 articles and 284 advertisements from the Netherlands, Flanders and the United Kingdom. The results challenge some conventional assumptions. Overall, the ‘victim frame’ and ‘pitiful images’ do not dominate the discourse of NGOs and newspapers. However, British NGOs are an exception: they portray the poor as ‘pitiful victims’ twice as often as their counterparts in the Netherlands and Flanders. Furthermore, the findings confirm the conviction that the media predominantly highlight poor countries' dependence on the West. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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‘Reading NGOs visually’—Implications of visual images for NGO management

Cited by 53 publications

References 10 publications

‘Race’, Gender and Neoliberalism: changing visual representations in development

‘Race’, Gender and Neoliberalism: changing visual representations in development

Painting a picture of America's nonprofit foundations: a content analysis of public relations photographs distributed through online wire services

In Search of the Pitiful Victim: A Frame Analysis of Dutch, Flemish and British Newspapers and NGO‐Advertisements

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