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Journalists say it's not all bad news in Africa
Isaac Mangena, Mail & Guardian (SA)
September 24, 2006

http://www.mg.co.za/articledirect.aspx?articleid=284823

The Western media is portraying Africa in a negative light and fails to cover positive economic and democratic developments, according to some of the continent's top journalists.

Africa has traditionally made the news for all the wrong reasons with reports on famine, civil war or the blight of HIV/Aids dominating international news coverage from the world's poorest continent.

But at a conference of about 200 leading journalists in Johannesburg this week there were widespread calls for a more rounded picture to emerge.

Tim Modise, a presenter at Johannesburg-based 702 Talk Radio, said the Western media was guilty of regurgitating stereotypes about Africa and overlooked the "harsh realities" of life in countries like China and India.

"Every time a country like South Africa is reported internationally, we are reminded about escalating crime and diseases such as HIV and Aids," he told a round-table panel.

"A lot of bad things are happening in countries like China where we know that there are violations of human rights, weak democracy, which are given little, if no coverage at all."

Mathata Tsedu, editor of South Africa's weekly City Press, said that all too often stories about Africa by international news organisations were geared towards a Western audience.

"We, as Africans, are not seen [by the Western media] as consumers who should consume news about us, but just buyers who buy what is offered -- and the offer is a 'take it or leave it'".

The idea that Africa is not getting the press coverage it deserves appears to be gathering steam, with major international organisations looking to expand their coverage on the continent.

Zafar Siddiqi, chairperson of CNBC Africa, an affiliate of the United States broadcast giant NBC, said he is planning to open new bureaux across the continent -- including two in the continent's economic powerhouse South Africa.

"There is a story to tell about Africa. We have done it in the Middle East and Asia. I don't see why it can't happen in Africa," said Siddiqi.

The Doha-based satellite broadcaster al-Jazeera also announced plans this week to open five offices across Africa -- in Abidjan, Cairo, Harare, Johannesburg and Nairobi -- for its international English-language service which is slated to begin broadcasting by the end of the year.

Representatives of Western media giants however deny that reporting of Africa was deliberately negative.

"Africans mostly want special treatment but I'm an African and when I cover the news it's all about a universal audience. Anyone relates to it," said CNN's chief Africa correspondent Jeff Koinange.

Time magazine correspondent Simon Robinson, who has been based in Africa for the last six years, said the continent was largely responsible for the coverage it received.

"To change the fundamental story about Africa is a sole responsibility of the continent to do that, not the [Western] journalists," he added. - Sapa-AFP

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