Speaking to a conference of aid workers she told them they should use positive advertising to attract funds for longer term development.

HRH The Princess Royal: do the media treat the west and the third world the same

Ms Short's concerns about the handling of humanitarian crises were echoed by the Princess Royal, who also spoke at the Dispatches from Disaster Zones conference, in London..

She wondered if the media used the same standards for reporting stories in the developing world as they do for stories in the west.

Richard Ayre, deputy chief executive BBC News

Richard Ayre, the Deputy Chief Executive of BBC News welcomed the Princess' comments saying the BBC used those same concerns to ensure its coverage was fair.

Ms Short warned the conference the public suffer from compassion fatigue.

The answer, she said, was more positive advertising aimed at raising funds for longer term development in poor countries, rather than short term crisis management.

"In recent years there has been an increase in humanitarian aid and a reduction of aid for development.

"If it is all humanitarian we are just going round in an endless cycle that never reaches a solution. People find it unbearable and they become depressed. The pictures come in, they flinch and turn away," she said.

Charities respond

John Whitaker from Oxfam: "The evidence is people are not flinching"

"The evidence is people are not flinching and looking away," said John Whitaker from Oxfam.

Peter Walker, the Director of Disaster Policy for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, has defended humanitarian aid work:

"It is a little bit like blaming 999 crews because we have a lot of road accidents," he said, describing Ms Short's speech as "good analysis, wrong conclusion".

"Humanitarians aren't at all responsible for conflicts," said the Director of the European Community Humanitarian Office, Alberto Navarro.

"These confrontations between humanitarians and development - we are two sides of the same coin. We have the same objectives."

Ms Short challenged the agencies to talk to her about switching the emphasis of their work towards longer-term development and improving public awareness.

She added: "What I'd like to consider is that we cease to do those kinds of appeals.