Starvation pornography: How many skinny babies can you show me?

The British producer’s voice was clearly audible in the background: “Lift up his arm so we can see how thin it is.”

The starving Somali baby’s arm was duly lifted for the camera.

In the Reuters newsroom, the Kenyan film editor tutted with annoyance as he edited footage sent by an aid agency for the launch of their drought appeal for the Horn of Africa.

“They’ve only filmed this one baby,” he complained. “Is it really bad or do they just need a new four by four?”

Jokes are one way that journalists cope with these heart-rending stories.

“This one’s not even skinny,” someone exclaimed as a group of us trooped round a paediatric ward in northern Kenya last week to stare at a toddler swollen with kwashiorkor protein-deficiency.

The cynicism is also partly out of frustration at how this crisis has suddenly hit the media – and how we know it will disappear equally rapidly.