Voices from the field? The democratisation of communication and challenging NGO evidence
Jessica Crombie, picture editor in the humanitarian field
In this paper I will outline communication practices within NGOs, evidence gathering practices that have been in common use since the current NGO model was created in the mid-1980s, and explore how new technologies and the democratisation of communication is creating a situation that fundamentally challenges the way that NGOs currently communicate.
NGOs use photographic imagery and film footage to prove the need for their existence. When ‘story’ gathering, the outcome is decided prior to the gathering process. Ideologies of truth are implied without deeper exploration into the shaky notion of truth. Communication is a one way street between receivers and givers with ‘true’ testimony and image evidence the keystones of this relationship.
Until now the ‘native’ has not been able to create a conversation, with the only communication channel mediated by the NGO. But with the huge growth in communication avenues opened up by the internet, and supported by projects such as One Laptop Per Child, suddenly such evidence can be provided direct.
I will explore how this affects the NGO structure. How the hegemony that NGOs rely upon to exist is challenged by voices from the field that may not maintain the status quo, who might not present themselves as neatly packaged stories, who will ask difficult questions and challenge their stereotypes. Can the current NGO model be maintained when the native can speak to us and present himself a complex human rather than an object of need?
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