MINI REVIEW article
Front. Commun.
Sec. Culture and Communication
Exploring the Media Representation of Poverty in Darfur, Western Sudan
Provisionally accepted
Elsir Ali Saad Mohamed1*
Mathani Hassan Abasher1
Khalid Ibrahim Abdelaziz Ishag2
Saleh Obaid Al-Rached1
Mohanad Alamin3Widad Mohamed4- 1Umm Al Quwain University, Umm Al Quwain, United Arab Emirates
- 2University of Al Dhaid, Al Dhaid, United Arab Emirates
- 3City University Ajman, Ajman, United Arab Emirates
- 4Al Qasimia University, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
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This research analyzes how media constructs narratives of poverty during the Darfur crisis in Sudan. It examines news coverage from international, regional, and local sources (2003-2022) to understand the dominant representational strategies, not to contrast them with a single "true" reality, but to uncover the specific political and ideological work they perform. Employing a triangulated methodology of qualitative content analysis, critical discourse analysis, and multimodal analysis, the study identifies recurring frames: a dominant "conflict-poverty" nexus, the portrayal of Darfuri civilians as helpless victims, and the characterization of aid organizations as heroic saviors. The analysis reveals how linguistic and visual strategies prioritize immediate emotional impact, often at the expense of historical and political context. By situating these findings within postcolonial and African media theory, the study argues that these representations are not mere distortions but active constructions that reflect and reinforce particular power dynamics. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of these representational patterns and suggests pathways for more reflexive and contextually-grounded journalism.
Keywords: Media representations, Darfur, Poverty, framing, critical discourse analysis, Postcolonial theory, Humanitarian communication
Received: 20 Oct 2025; Accepted: 25 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Mohamed, Abasher, Ibrahim Abdelaziz Ishag, Al-Rached, Alamin and Mohamed. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Elsir Ali Saad Mohamed
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