Detonating the Media: Raising the Profile of Mine Action

Authors

Paul McCann, The HALO TrustFollow

Abstract

In January 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, travelled to Angola with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). She did not travel alone. Around ninety international journalists and TV crews accompanied her. It is unlikely that Angola’s sleepy second city of Huambo saw similar numbers of press until September 2019, when her son, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, walked in her footsteps. The two visits, separated by twenty-two years, produced arguably the greatest amount of media attention ever achieved by humanitarian mine action (HMA). Comparable with the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC) conference in December 1997, such exposure is considered an unambiguous good. But how can mine clearance organizations and others harness this publicity to benefit HMA? How do you keep mine action in the public eye when such high-profile visits are over? And what issues do HMA organizations need to bear in mind when they seek public awareness for their work?

Recommended Citation

McCann, Paul (2020) "Detonating the Media: Raising the Profile of Mine Action," The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction: Vol. 24 : Iss. 1 , Article 7.
Available at: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cisr-journal/vol24/iss1/7