John Pilger and BBC World Affairs editor John Simpson have urged fellow
journalists not to use terms such as stone age' and primitive' to
describe contemporary tribal peoples, in a letter published in the
Financial Times.
These terms are dangerous because, aside from being often implicitly
pejorative, they are used to justify the persecution of tribal people,'
the letter states. Governments, such as in Indonesia and Botswana,
claim that forcibly developing' tribes is for their own good and helps
them to catch up' with the civilized' world. The results are almost
always catastrophic for those involved.'
The letter comes after a number of British newspapers used terms like
savage', stone age' and one of the most primitive tribes on earth'
to describe the Sentinelese, who live in almost complete isolation on North Sentinel Island in the Indian Ocean.
The Sentinelese recently hit the world's headlines after they killed
two men who had illegally entered their waters. Indian law prohibits
non-Sentinelese from coming within five kilometres of North Sentinel
Island in order to protect the tribespeoples' food resources, which are
under constant threat from outsiders and upon which the Sentinelese
totally depend. In recent years, a number of Sentinelese themselves
have been killed by outsiders and, as a result, the arrival of any
non-Sentinelese is seen as hostile.
The letter was also signed by Christopher Booker, Sandy Gall and George Monbiot.
Survival International's Director's, Stephen Corry, said today,
Journalists all around the world need to understand that the use of
these kinds of terms is not only inaccurate, but extremely harmful.
They foster prejudices which lead directly to tribal peoples'
suffering. We are delighted that such high-profile journalists have
taken up this cause and we hope that many other journalists will follow
their lead.'
To find out more about Survival's campaign to stamp out racism against tribal people in the media, click here
For more information call Miriam Ross on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or email mr@survival-international.org
