The Media and Somali Pirates

Earlier in the semester, we discussed the media representation of certain events. Through this media representation, we are led to believe a certain perspective on events presented in the media. Last week one of the biggest stories being covered throughout the American media, especially on the main television news networks, was the issue of Somali pirates off of the coast of Somalia in the Indian Ocean. The story that was brought to our attention by the American media was a story of pirates that hijacked a large shipping vessel flying an American flag, taking the captain and its crew hostage. As the story continued, the news networks updated us on the actions of the U.S. Navy's efforts to intervene. Eventually, the crew of the shipping vessel was able to partially take over control. This left the four pirates on one of the ship's lifeboats, with one hostage. Mid-afternoon on Sunday, U.S. Navy sharpshooters were able to simultaneously incapacitate three of the four pirates with fatal head shots. These actions allowed for the release of the final hostage, the shipping vessel's captain, and the capture of the fourth pirate.

The above summary is just an overview of the events that occurred; however, the media represented the entire event in a tragic manner. They discussed the overall impact of pirates on shipping operations. They discussed how security has been expanded for some shipping companies, in order to have some defense against pirates. They discussed how some companies alter shipping routes in order to avoid the Somali coast. There were many other aspects of the situation that were discussed, but very few of the perspective presented touched on the perspective of the Somali people and the root of their actions as pirates.

Historically, the coastal Somali people are fisherman. Their fishing industry was the main industry in the coastal region of the country. In addition to providing an income for many Somali families, it also provided a means of feeding their families. In the early 1990's, during the collapse of the Somali government, many developed nations and corporations from those developed nations took actions that neglected to take the Somali people into consideration. Two actions were taken by these nations and corporations - the U.S. included - that started to diminish the fishing industry that the coastal Somali people used to provide food and income for themselves and their families. First, industrial fisherman from around the world over fished the area to the point that the stock of fish available to the Somalis was depleted. As the stock of fish was depleted, corporations from developed nations began to dump hazardous waste off the coast of Somalia. These contaminated the water and killed off remaining populations of fish. As these actions were being taken by corporations from countries, like the United States, the Somali people tried to bring their case the U.N. Security Council. When those efforts were ignored, the Somali people had only one choice - to take matters into their own hands. This was the start of Somali pirates.

As fisherman, the Somali people were comfortable out at sea. Initially, they were not regarded as pirates in the sense that we are now viewing them. At first, they would forcibly board shipping vessels to inspect for hazardous materials. Eventually, as they found ships that had such materials on board, they would take over the ship and demand ransom for the ships crew from the company that owned the shipping vessel. This regulation of their offshore waters continued for a while, but eventually greed took over. After time, instead of just inspecting vessels and only taking over the vessels with hazardous materials, these acts of piracy became very lucrative. One ransom would bring in millions of U.S. dollars for these pirate organizations. Unable to turn away from such lucrative opportunities, piracy became a new means of sustenance for the coastal Somali people.

Though I am not condoning the actions of the pirates, I was interested to see an alternative perspective to the many perspectives that were presented to us by the American media about Somali pirates. I realize that their actions now are rooted in greed; however, this perspective leads me to wonder if Somali pirates would have ever been a problem if developed countries had given more consideration to the Somali people back in the early 1990's. If the coastal Somali people could still be sustaining themselves as fisherman, would the issue of piracy even be a problem today? If you are interested in learning more, the above link is a YouTube video featuring K'Naan, a Somali-born rapper. In an interview, he discussed the perspective that I just shared with you. In the video, he discussed an effort to submit an Opinion piece to The New York Times. I have not yet been able to locate that article, but would be interested to see what additional details would be shared in that article.