| Africa in the eyes of the West |
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| Written by Levi Obijiofor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Friday, 11 July 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Africa in the eyes of the West By Levi Obijiofor Friday, 11 July 2008 The way Africa is reported in the western news media and the image of Africa that has emerged from the reportage of Africa has remained a touchy topic of discussion among African and western political leaders, journalists and scholars. The debate is not likely to end soon essentially because nothing has changed in the way the West reports Africa. In the 21st century, western media’s fascination for negative news about Africa has remained as intense as it was during Africa’s colonial experience. There is indeed a plethora of literature on how western media coverage of Africa and other developing countries is distorted and framed in negative concepts. Unfortunately, some western editors and journalists dismiss complaints about the misrepresentation and stereotyping of Africa in the western media as part of a growing movement in Africa to bash western journalistic practices. Regardless of western media’s tunnel vision of Africa, research evidence continues to show quite clearly that western media coverage of the continent consists of a diet of negative news and stereotypes garnished with farcical western-made sauces. There are many reasons for this. Some of them are external to Africa. Others are indeed home-grown. Perhaps the most consistent reason why bad news about Africa makes excellent news copy in western newsrooms is the media’s fascination for negative news. What has emerged from Africa’s misrepresentation in the West is that some journalists are yet to understand and communicate the most basic facts about Africa: that is, Africa is a vast and complex continent of no fewer than 53 independent countries made up of more than 700 million people who speak over 1500 languages. Culturally, politically and economically, African countries differ in various ways. Unfortunately, these differences are not reflected in western media’s reportage of Africa. It is lousy journalism and lack of editorial supervision that permits a report in which Africa is depicted as one country rather than a continent of many independent countries. A number of scholars believe that ignorance and complacency are among the major reasons why some western news media misrepresent and denigrate Africa. Consider this recent example. More than 15 years since Lagos ceased to be the capital of Nigeria, a television journalist who was on an assignment in Nigeria, began his report by misinforming his audience about how he arrived in Lagos, “Nigeria’s federal capital”. This palpable error illustrates how laziness and ignorance can invalidate an entire news report; indeed it shows how inaccurate reporting can undermine the credibility of a journalist and their news organisation. One of the phrases consistently used in the training of journalists is: “when in doubt, ask”. But, do kamikaze journalists listen during training? Common sense would suggest that journalists on an assignment in a foreign country would first familiarise themselves with the basic facts about their host country. This is one of the canons of foreign news reporting. It is also one of the survival strategies for reporting in a foreign country. Foreign journalists who ignore this fundamental rule of reporting leave themselves open to embarrassment. Why does negative news about Africa make good news copy in the western media? This question has received considerable attention in public forums and in the media. To answer the question, we must examine news reporting and production processes, including how news events are selected and framed, the language in which news is framed and the subtle meanings attached to events. News reporting and production routines require editors and senior journalists to make judgments about which events to select and the ones to ignore. Selection is a very important part of news judgment because print and electronic media have space and time limitations respectively. It is in the process of selecting certain events and rejecting others, and in the process of explaining the selected events that editors and senior journalists define social reality and shape the way the public perceives that “reality”. As Jo Ellen Fair pointed out, “By choosing certain events, emphasizing certain ‘facts’, and giving stories a certain tone, the news media structure and define reality”. In the case of Africa, the ‘reality’ that is presented by the western media about the people and the continent is far from real. Some scholars see in this reporting genre a conspiracy by some western media to undermine and devalue Africa. They may not be totally wrong. Again, Jo Ellen Fair argues that, “for African countries to be part of ‘all the news that’s fit to print’, … it seems that news stories must include three elements: events, crisis, and conflict”. Another problem associated with western media’s coverage of Africa is the lack of context in news reports. Why do some western news media provide fluffy and wooly accounts about Africa? In an introduction to her (edited) book, Beverly G. Hawk identified some of the factors that underpin lack of context in stories about Africa: “Media presentation of needed contextual information about Africa is limited by commercial and financial considerations of editors, the personal opinions of editors and correspondents, and press restrictions of host governments.” Azubuike Ishiekwene (Punch, May 6, 2008) illustrates how lack of context in western media coverage of Africa contributes to emphasis on negative news about Africa. In his words, “… when people have complained about how Africa is reported, it is the context question that is at the heart of the debate. Context that does not deny that corruption is endemic and must be confronted head on, but one that also recognises that in some of the worst corruption cases in Africa, big foreign firms such as Halliburton or Siemens have been implicated as well… Context that recognises that Africa is a continent that is as diverse and complex as it has a lot in common.” A major consequence of western media’s misrepresentation of Africa is an Africa that is ravaged by political instability, economic backwardness, extraordinary famine and drought, poverty, diseases and culturally primitive ways of doing things. It is true that Africa’s socioeconomic development has indeed been hampered by some of these problems. But we must place the problems in context in order to understand their nature and origins. Contextual background is important because an analysis of the problems that overwhelm Africa cannot be complete without insights into how unfavourable external economic and historical relationships between Africa and the West have undermined Africa. For example, Ali Mazrui provides a vivid illustration of how the balkanization of Africa by European colonial administrations sowed the seeds of internal political unrest in many African countries, many years after they attained political independence. “It was… in Africa that Europe practiced the art of partition at its most elaborate. Where Europe attempted to unify those who were distinct, it left the seeds of future separatism… Where Europe divided, it sometimes left behind latent passions for reunification…” It has been pointed out that Africa is full of hazards that undermine the efforts of western journalists to cover the continent. These hazards include “sources reluctant to speak for their own safety, difficult travel conditions, censorship, inadequate communication facilities that make transmitting stories at times nearly impossible”, and so on. The question really is: how different are these hazards from other dangers that journalists encounter in their coverage of other developing regions? Within Africa itself, a number of factors serve as fodder for negative media coverage of the continent. Think about the endemic corruption and abuse of the political process by sit-tight African leaders (e.g. Robert Mugabe’s perception of the Zimbabwean state as his birthright). Don’t forget to pencil down the atrocious human rights records of many African leaders, the regular rounds of extra-judicial killings, the endless conflicts and wars that dot the corners of Africa, including ethnic and religious cleansing that has defied diplomatic efforts in parts of Africa such as Darfur, Sudan -- to name just one intransigent case. We must also not forget the Niger Delta conflict in our own backyard. If western journalists are looking for events in Africa to justify their negative portrayal of the continent, they need look no further. The evidence is all laid out and packaged in various parts of Africa. In the deficit side of Africa’s ledger, we must accept that Africa has contributed to its own downfall and to how the West portrays the continent. Perhaps there is some truth in the statement that Africa’s greatest enemies are embedded within the continental ridge.
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Posted by Robot| 11.07.2008 07:35