Thank you for this excellent analysis of dangerous information. The question has long been asked of attacks and murders of albino people in Tanzania and elsewhere: why did this become a shockingly common occurrence after 2007?
Previously there had been numerous instances of persecution, violent incidents involving people with various disabilities, accusations of and associations with disability and witchcraft, even incidents involving albinos. But after a report appeared in a local paper in Northern Tanzania was picked up by the BBC, there was an explosion in attacks, and they are still happening in 2019. Such attacks have since occurred in many other countries.
As the number of attacks rose rapidly, so did the number of articles about these attacks. A pattern emerged: ‘witchcraft’, rich clients who wanted to be richer, ‘middlemen’ who would carry out the attacks, large amounts of money being paid for albino body parts and organs. It’s difficult to say, now, whether the attacks started to imitate the reports, or whether the reports accurately described the attacks. But after more than 10 years, there is still little more than speculation about who the clients might be, whether there really is a ‘thriving trade’ in body parts, etc, as claimed in the press.
There have been other related phenomena, enthusiastically reported in the press over the years, such as trade in and ‘trafficking’ of human organs, use of human body parts in ‘witchcraft’, use of children’s body parts and organs, whole human and child sacrifice (by ‘Satanists’), attacks on bald men for their organs and body parts, attacks on people for their genitals, use of human blood in occult practices, use of human skin in occult practices, and so on.
There seems to be something about the way that the stories of attacks on albinos were packaged that kept them on the front page for years. And the bulk of media articles on the subject merely copy or paraphrase what is found in other media articles. But much of the media coverage appears to be putting a price on the heads of albinos.
Which is where your analysis of dangerous information comes in. I’ve been based in Tanzania for much of the last 10 years and I have been researching this phenomenon for about 8 years. And I still conclude that the way the press covered these incidents, and continue to cover them, may be fanning the flames. I’d love to hear your comments.
Thank you for this excellent analysis of dangerous information. The question has long been asked of attacks and murders of albino people in Tanzania and elsewhere: why did this become a shockingly common occurrence after 2007?
Previously there had been numerous instances of persecution, violent incidents involving people with various disabilities, accusations of and associations with disability and witchcraft, even incidents involving albinos. But after a report appeared in a local paper in Northern Tanzania was picked up by the BBC, there was an explosion in attacks, and they are still happening in 2019. Such attacks have since occurred in many other countries.
As the number of attacks rose rapidly, so did the number of articles about these attacks. A pattern emerged: ‘witchcraft’, rich clients who wanted to be richer, ‘middlemen’ who would carry out the attacks, large amounts of money being paid for albino body parts and organs. It’s difficult to say, now, whether the attacks started to imitate the reports, or whether the reports accurately described the attacks. But after more than 10 years, there is still little more than speculation about who the clients might be, whether there really is a ‘thriving trade’ in body parts, etc, as claimed in the press.
There have been other related phenomena, enthusiastically reported in the press over the years, such as trade in and ‘trafficking’ of human organs, use of human body parts in ‘witchcraft’, use of children’s body parts and organs, whole human and child sacrifice (by ‘Satanists’), attacks on bald men for their organs and body parts, attacks on people for their genitals, use of human blood in occult practices, use of human skin in occult practices, and so on.
There seems to be something about the way that the stories of attacks on albinos were packaged that kept them on the front page for years. And the bulk of media articles on the subject merely copy or paraphrase what is found in other media articles. But much of the media coverage appears to be putting a price on the heads of albinos.
Which is where your analysis of dangerous information comes in. I’ve been based in Tanzania for much of the last 10 years and I have been researching this phenomenon for about 8 years. And I still conclude that the way the press covered these incidents, and continue to cover them, may be fanning the flames. I’d love to hear your comments.