Stereotyping of Africa must stop
“Somalia: bomb blast kills 20” “Deadly bombing in Nigeria”; “Famine hits Ethiopia”; and “CAR rebels 'seize' towns from army" are familiar headlines one is likely to come across in major Western media outlets daily.
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These headlines are a reflection of the Western media stereotyping of Africa as a continent of wars, starvation, tribal anarchy, flagrant corruption and disease. Over the years, Africa has gained notoriety in the Western media as a continent without anything positive but rather constant agitations and bad leadership.
Foreign journalists in African countries and their superiors in the media gatekeeping chain seem to have these perceptions deep-seated among them.
It is undeniable that the orientation journalists have about news influences their sense of what constitutes “news." News is defined usually as a negative departure from the norm.
This is also not helped by the fact that in media circles, there is an endless race for larger circulation, higher ratings, and increased listenership, viewership and profits.
Rather sadly, this should explain why the life of Africa's varied and diverse countries is missing in Western media reports. The continent is regarded as a single country in the Western media, and this notion ignores the fact that no single continent apart from Africa has 54 countries as members of the United Nations.
There are always reports about famines and coups, but not the rejuvenation of the continent’s cities and the cultural vitality of its village life...about oppression and massacres, but not education, economic self-help and political development... about poaching and habitat destruction, but not ongoing active efforts at conservation, reforestation and environmental awareness.
At every step, Africa finds itself a victim of double standards. The continent is routinely forced to play the rules of free trade though the Westerners ignore these rules at will.
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In truth, not a single African has the sovereign right to introduce policies that would significantly direct or change its destiny, African governments must either implement the demonstrably failed policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank or forfeit aid, loans, debt relief and general international acceptance.
The hard truth
Admittedly, Africa’s leadership is part of the problem. Greed, corruption, ineptitude, nepotism and other unexplained reasons have placed the continent at the mercy of military adventurers.
Over the years, Africa has become synonymous with monstrous tyranny—Mobutu Sese Seko of the former Zaire, Iddi Amin of Uganda; Sani Abacha of Nigeria; Charles Taylor of Liberia; Emperor Bokasa of Central Africa Republic; Gnasingbe Eyadema of Togo; and Omar Al Bashir of Sudan at one point or another have not helped in creating a positive image of the continent outside.
Beyond the black picture of Africa painted in the Western media are many reasons African journalists owe it as a responsibility to the continent to tell its story in manner that corrects its stereotyping by the western world.
Celebrating the success
Africa’s manuscript of yesterday is not the same today. The continent keeps making giant strides with its governance and election scripts improving every year. African economies continue to dominate the best performing economies across the world at a time economic recession is biting hard on most developed countries. Business is booming so well in some parts of the continent that citizens of some former colonial powers are returning to Africa in search of jobs. A typical example is Angola, where Portuguese are returning to find jobs in Angola’s ever growing oil industry.
That is not all; African entrepreneurs and businesses continue to be shining stars among their peers. One cannot finish writing the story of the world’s telecom industry without mentioning Nigerian and Globacom Chief Executive Officer, Mike Adenuga, and Chairman of MTN Group, Cyril Ramphosa of South Africa.
Many other great tales hardly find space in the Western media. Even when they do, they are buried in obscure corners or given small and fleeting airtime.
There is no end to the several success stories of the continent. A fact echoed by a former Botswana Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Ponatshego Kedikilwe, who urged the media fraternity in Africa to give a counter narrative to the stereotypic imaging of Africa, which is pre-eminent in the Western media as misinformation about Africa had become a growth industry in the West.
"The Western media continues to view Africa as a homogenous entity comprising of a people who are culturally, intellectually, politically and technically backward and incapable of governing themselves," he said
Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s stake on African journalism
Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, did make some instructive statements about the mandate of the African journalist.
In a speech he delivered during the inauguration of the new office complex of the Ghana News Agency on March 6, 1965, Dr Nkrumah said: "The journalist must inform the people of what their government is doing; of what their compatriots are doing and of what other peoples in similar situations are doing throughout the world.
He must inform them of the plots and intrigues of the imperialists; the ceaseless attempts at bribery and corruption by intelligence agencies and of steps that are being taken to defeat the African renaissance. Our journalists must write to educate the people.”
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