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Melbourne, October 1, 2012. Despite rising food prices and increasing concern from NGOs on hunger, food shortages, and exploitative trades by the investment community, food insecurity has received little coverage from international TV news, according to research institute Media Tenor International.

“Media coverage on food-related issues actually leans towards food safety concerns such as contamination and labeling. Issues around food security – rising prices in the wake of depressed crop yields, food shortages, and the social implications of these issues – are less visible, and often focus not on the areas most in need or at risk, but on potential future impacts in developed nations,” says Racheline Maltese, a researcher at Media Tenor.

“Food is rarely a good news topic on TV,” Maltese adds. “It is usually only covered when something changes for the negative. So, despite over 1 billion people around the world facing food insecurity according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation´s 2010 report, hunger and food access is largely an unreported background issue. Generally, only when the already negative status quo gets worse does reporting emerge.”

Business media have also addressed food concerns through quoting cited analysts on agricultural commodities, Media Tenor notes. “The tone from quoted analysts has been split. Extreme weather has highlighted the risks in investing in agraproducts, but with risk comes the opportunity for profit. In terms of recommendations for investors, the picture is mixed, and rarely addresses the social impact,” Maltese says.

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