Annotated Bibliography

“The media expose pictures of distant victims of civil wars, genocide, massacres and other violence against civil populations and play a basic role in giving publicity to human suffering“ (Höijer, 2004). As the media is partly responsible for framing our way of thinking, all areas must be covered, including human suffering, close or distant. This annotated bibliography will explore the present news items surrounding the Anders Behring Breivik case in Norway, who is responsible for the bombing in Oslo and the shootings on Utøya in July last year, through the mediums of the Four Corners documentary, an online article from The Guardian and an online article from the Brisbane Times as well as an article by Birgitta Höijer. All the mediums promote global compassion in varying ways.

Höijer, B. (2004). The Discourse of Global Compassion: The Audience and Media Reporting of Human Suffering. Media Culture and Society, 26 (4), 513-531. doi:10.1177/0163443704044215

Birgitta Höijer, a professor at the University of Örebro, Sweden, specialising in the School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences focuses on the discourse of global compassion and audiences reaction to the media coverage of human suffering in her article. In the article it states that “media coverage seems to be something of a driving force in the development influencing both the public and the politicians” and that it “may be seen as an intermediate link between the level of social situations, in which audiences’ interpretations and responses develop”( Höijer, 2012). Höijer addresses a fast growing focus on human suffering in the media but says there is a common view that the audience is not emotionally affected by these images or pictures of distant pain. The article looks at ‘ideal’ victims; the older population, women and children, that an audience is more likely to be affected by if media coverage shows their being hurt in any of the aforementioned events. Höijer completes a study of peoples’ reactions to such events and notes the outcomes; different forms of compassion or indifference. The results both support and discredit the theory of compassion fatigue which is where an audience is so exposed to a certain subject or event that there is a lessening of compassion over time. Höijer also outlines different reactions in different genders.

Watts, E. (Filmed and Directed). Norris, H. (Narrator). Anderson, A. (researcher). O’Brien, K. (Presenter). BBC Production. (2012, April 23).The Killer Within. Four Corners. Queensland: ABC

The production team for this short documentary gives a balanced and well researched view to the Anders Behring Breivik case. They begin with a brief history on the island of Utøya and recounts of survivors as well as journalists and police that were at the scene. The production team goes through the order of events chronologically. They do not try to understand why Breivik did what he did, but they do give details into his preparation for the event as well as short quotes from his manifesto in order to give a balanced view of this event. At no point does this documentary condemn Breivik or his actions. They leave any judgement to the audience by providing all the relevant information and footage in relation to the attacks on that day in July last year. This source has good use of factual evidence, footage from the day and interviews with those involved. The survivors fit what Höijer calls ‘ideal’ victims, which promotes compassion in audiences around the world especially because of the subject matter and the raw footage of the youths on the island just after the attack.

Pidd, H. (2012, May 14). Anders Breivik Trial: young survivors give evidence. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/14/anders-breivik-trial-young-survivors

Pidd outlines the charges against Breivik briefly before she begins describing the testimony of a few survivors of the attack on the Island who were shot but did not realise they had been. She also writes how the first witness asks Breivik to leave the room whilst she gives her testimony and how she seems to be in a fragile state drawing attention to the fact that she is wearing flowers in her hair. The article describes the victim’s experience on the island and what they saw of their fellow camp mates and their attempts to survive the attacks of Breivik. The article does end on a positive note with a quote from one of the survivors. No account is given of Breivik apart from him going to watch the testimony via a video link in another room but as it is a court proceeding and it was not Breivik’s day for his testimony, this is still a fairly balanced article. This article is all about the victims which again fits into Höijer ‘s ‘ideal’ victim status which promotes compassion like the previous source, but this account is only text and does not have video footage like the Four Corners episode. 

Kissane, K. (2012, April 17). A ghastly litany of relentless slaughter: man of stone Breivik eventually reduced to tears. The Brisbane Times. Retrieved from http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/a-ghastly-litany-of-relentless-slaughter-man-of-stone-breivik-eventually-reduced-to-tears-20120417-1x493.html

Kissane takes a very descriptive approach to illustrate the events and the proceedings in the courtroom which differs from the heavy reliance of the victims in the article by Pidd. Kissane paints graphic pictures of the car bombing in Oslo as well as the shootings on Utøya. She compares the car bomb blast to a blast in an action movie and how much more devastating real life is, describing the explosion as being like “dragon’s breath” (Kissane, 2012). Kissane then brings the article back to real-time where Breivik remains unmoved despite a video of the explosion repeatedly being played, a phone call is then played from one of the victims on the island calling for help and the prosecutor reading out the indictment. The only time that Breivik is said to show emotion is when his own propaganda film is played where he tears up and “had to put his hand over his eyes” (Kissane, 2012). This article attempts to draw compassion from the audience through highly descriptive text and an account of the attacker that the other two sources have not really included in their reports.  The article includes a short video report at the top as which again focuses on Breivik, prompting compassion through images of the perpetrator and his stony face in the presence of such haunting events and images.