The Journalist Who Made the World See Famine (Mohamed Amin and Michael Buerk, Ethiopia)
Quick answer: How did the 1984 BBC report change the response to Ethiopia's famine?
In late October 1984, BBC reporter Michael Buerk and cameraman Mohamed Amin filmed the famine at Korem, calling it “a biblical famine… the closest thing to hell on earth.” The broadcast drove public calls to aid agencies and pressured governments, expanding relief. John notes it also left the civil war largely out of frame.
By the time the BBC reached northern Ethiopia in October 1984, the famine was no longer a warning. It was a system failure shaped by drought, civil war, and access opened or denied. World Vision pilots flying relief resented carrying journalists, because each passenger meant leaving a bag of grain behind. Still, for three days they shuttled reporter Michael Buerk and cameraman Mohamed Amin to Mek'ele, Korem, and Alamata. At Korem at first light, a long line moved toward food, people carrying children too weak to cry. Buerk opened: “a biblical famine… the closest thing to hell on earth.” Amin later said, “People were dying in front of the camera. It changed me.” The broadcast forced a reordering. People called aid agencies; governments felt pressure. But John names the catch: the camera can drive action and strip away cause, and the war stayed at the edge of the frame. Food is a chain, and nurse Claire Bertschinger said it would take more than a Band Aid.
Why it matters for leaders: When a story moves you, make it accountable: pick one concrete lever and pull it an hour a week for a month.
Q: How did Mohamed Amin describe the experience?
A: “People were dying in front of the camera. It changed me.”
Q: What did nurse Claire Bertschinger say about Band Aid?
A: “You'll need more than a bloody Band Aid to feed this place!” — relief depends on access, trucks, fuel, and time.
Read the full essay on Substack → https://heroespath.substack.com/p/the-journalist-who-made-the-world
By John Fenzel, founder and CEO of Heroes' Path Foundation