British reality TV crew accused as flu kills four in isolated Peruvian tribe

[Barnaby_McEwan]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/mar/27/conservation.realitytv

A British reality TV company has been accused of starting a flu epidemic that left four people from a tribe of isolated Peruvian Indians dead and others seriously ill.

The regional Indian rights organisation Fenama, government officials and a US anthropologist working in the region said in statements seen by the Guardian that a two-person crew working for London-based Cicada Films had visited groups of isolated Indian communities despite being warned not to. Fenama said the film team travelled far upriver and provoked an epidemic.

Stephen Corry, director of Survival International, a movement for tribal peoples, said: "This controversy highlights how the interests and welfare of tribal people can potentially be put at risk by reality TV programmes chasing ratings.

"Since the success of the BBC's Tribe series, which brought tribal peoples' lives to the small screen in a sensitive way, there has been a whole rash of bizarre and extreme programmes on the subject. The key principles here are sensitivity and accuracy, something TV companies are often not good at."

Understatement of the year there, I think.

[piya]

Just shows how ingnorant these people are, and that they do not care one bit about the people who they are going to make a fast buck out of.

I think showing our dissapproval, to the film company might be a place to start.

[piya]

http://www.cicadafilms.com/home/index-ie.html

[PaxMan]

Gives us all the opportunity to look at how much harm can be done in the name of good.