Bringing a Voice to the Third World

Edited by Celia Shortt
Picture by Jonathan McIntosh, Creative Commons
To bring a voice to those in need in Third World countries can mean different things to different people. Journalists weigh and discuss different options on how to best bring that voice to the people:

Observe them for a few days, ask questions about how they get by, how they feed their family or make a living. People must connect to stories that touch their hearts. If you can humanize an issue, it will make more people aware of a prominent issue, like poverty. - Emily Mullin

Newspapers do not tell people what to think. They tell the public what to think about. Anyone who has been to a developing country knows the feeling of walking through the streets of its poorest regions and feel that guilt that you are living so well - even as a college student - while these people are living in squalor. That type of feeling sticks with you. That is the feeling you want to stick with your readers. - Michael Hess

As correspondents, we cannot change the world directly, per say; but in time, the people who read our stories and see our images can. - David Flores

Third World countries which are seldom given a voice to express their concerns and injustices deserve journalists who are willing to stray from media norms. I believe there is an opportunity to return to the bold, investigative journalism that has been missing for quite some time.
- Halle Tansing

Giving voice to the voiceless and allowing their story to be told can have a lasting impact. In providing voice to the world's poorest, a reporter much handle everything with forethought and strategy. - Veronica Norton