The World in 2012
Africa's reputation—deserved or not
Continental bias?
Dec 27th 2011, 17:59 by J.A.
THE admirable Sudanese telecoms billionaire, Mo Ibrahim, was the guest-editor of the BBC Radio 4 Today programme this morning. Cassandra did not catch all of the programme (which, for non-Beeb listeners, concentrates on the politics and current affairs of the moment), but what caught my attention was Mr Ibrahim’s assertion that the western media—he included the supposedly impartial BBC and CNN—are biased in their reporting of Africa. Too often, he argued, the western media fail to report the good stories that abound in the continent; instead, they concentrate on the “four or five” places that give Africa such a bad name to the outside world.
Perhaps he has a point. After all, more and more African countries, both north and south of the Sahara, these days hold democratic elections that are at least reasonably fair and the continent looks set to enjoy good economic growth in the year ahead.
Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but make a mental riposte or two: two days ago Christmas Day in Nigeria was marred by deadly church bombings carried out by the extremist Muslim Boko Haram group; there has been horrible violence in recent years in Zimbabwe and Kenya, both of which are due to hold elections in 2012; Côte d’Ivoire, once the epitome of stable (albeit undemocratic) prosperity, is only just emerging from its civil war of 2011; Somalia is the tragic definition of a failed state; and far too many countries are ruled by what The World in 2012 calls “resource-peddling strongmen”. Add to that the continent’s terrible reputation for corruption, and perhaps Mr Ibrahim is being a touch too critical.
But perhaps the best riposte lies with Mr Ibrahim’s very own Mo Ibrahim Foundation, which produces an annual index of African governance and awards a huge prize—$5m, plus $200,000 a year for life—to a democratically elected African leader who has governed well and who has voluntarily stepped down in favour of his or her democratically elected successor. The prize was first awarded in 2007 to Mozambique’s Joaquim Chissano, and the following year it went to Festus Mogae of Botswana. The 2011 prize, announced in October, was given to Pedro Pires, who had stepped down in September after a decade as president of Cape Verde. But, sad to say (though good for the credibility of the prize), no recipient was felt worthy in 2009 and 2010. Let us hope that Mr Ibrahim—and the western media—will be able to salute a worthy winner in 2012.
This blog accompanies The World in 2012, our almanac of predictions for the year ahead. The blog is named after the mythological Cassandra, who was cursed by Apollo to make prophecies that were accurate, but disbelieved.
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I think the ultimate point that I have never seen written about anywhere is that Africans never ASKED to be colonized or GIVEN 'civilization'. Africans are human beings just like everywhere else and had a different sort of greed forced upon them. The African diaspora likewise (albeit with innumerable exceptions) seems to also reject the 'way of life' of their European colonizers. Genocide, murder, corrupt governments, theft, starvation, oppression and other ills that plague mankind happen everywhere in the world. If the Africans were content to live in trees, half-naked and whatever, who is to say that they would be worse off than they are now? There are two reasons other cultures feel the need to meddle in African politics and culture and that is because of the irreversible damage wrought by colonization in the first place and the subsequent guilt in addition to the need to tap Africa's vast wealth of natural resources on which the rich world is dependent.
That said, the news we read daily about this and that happening in Africa is directly correlated to a way of life being forced upon a people who survived and thrived for untold centuries before Europeans came with their 'solutions'. Solutions that turned out to fail for those that offered them, as well as ultimately failed to do nothing to bring peace to a people who already well knew the worst of mankind from their own system. Perhaps if we could go back, instead of dominating Africa, perhaps the wiser choice would have been to see what could have been learned from a culture that ceases to exist.
I totally agree with Mo Ibrahim about the western media. so many great things coming out of Africa.From the booming creative and fashion industry in Nigeria to music in Africa&Kenya..,why are these not strongly emphasised.CNN and BBC believes that tragedy sells their African stories..Earthquakes doesn't happen in Africa..if Africa manages to get over the basic governance issues..what will they report next..?
Western media also use the most unflattering images of Africa, even when reporting on what can be considered a positive story. The Economist, for example, used a picture of a light aircraft landing on a bush airstrip next to a gazing lioness when the story accompanying the photo was about the progress made by large African airlines. Whilst such things do not always bother me, they can have lasting effects on the mind of those who have never set foot in Africa. So, I think Mo has a point, because, lets not pretend, a poor image does have consequences. It deters investors, potential tourists and business people who might otherwise have no problem in dealing with Africans. I have told people elsewhere that I was once a successful online consultant, but once the platform I was using forced me to disclose my location, (in Africa, that is) clients vanished at once, even though I had a good reputation and positive feedback from previous clients. So I experienced first hand the effects of a poor image my continent has in the eyes of a foreigner.
Wasn't there a supporter of Zuma in S. Africa who was asked/forced to leave the ANC group/coalition due to his hatred of a race?
Nice pic of a GDP map.
Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile...
Robert F. Kennedy
University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, March 18, 1968
Regards
In addition to whatever racial, ethnic, continental, etc. biases may be at work here, it is worth noting that in every country, what makes news is bad news. "If it bleeds, it leads" is a policy in almost every newsroom on the planet -- unless restricted by government orders. An occasional "feel good" story may slip in, but usually well after all of the bad news of the day.
If you follow the news, you could believe that Africa is full of violence and disaster. But then, you could also believe that American cities are as well. And that India and Pakistan are constantly involved in, or on the verge of, a shooting war (rather than, most of the time, a cold war at most). The list goes on and on.
Not to say that there are not biases in coverage. Just that the examples he cites are not the best possible examples.
I must say I agree with Mo's thesis on media bias. A lot of African countries like Zimbabwe, South Africa where race-based privileges were recently dismantled, cnn, bbc or even TE use sources whom were previously in priviledged position, not because of capability or achievement but purely because of the colour of their skin. once the priviledges were removed you had a huge angry group of folks who are sources for either cnn, bbc or TE...and obviously these angry folks will concentrate on the negative...remember FIFA World 2010 in South Africa, we were constantly told esp by BBC & CNN that 2010 will not only be a flop but there is so much crime in South Africa that people would be mugged, murdered, etc and then what happened, ...what a successful event...what people did not realise was that their sources especially the white South African folks were misinforming them...i experienced this with my Scottish friend who had been brain-washed by an ANGRY South African in the diaspora; he apologised to me after the even. Another example is South Africa's neighbour, Zimbabwe. Yes, Zimbabwe has a Robert Mugabe problem but Zimbabwean chose to resolve their issues in a peaceful manner and formed a coalition government that is changing lives, the land reforms seem to be paying off based on objective studies by an English academic. Is this reported , NO...we only get reports about Zimbabwe only when things go wrong or when old Mugabe goes off a tangent...did these cnn or bbc report about Green Fuels, and Green Technology in Zimbabwe, perhaps Africa's biggest Green project, NO...yet CNN this week had the guts to mix a story about a Christmas Lake accident with Robert Mugabe(what a shame)
No wonder the world is confused about Africa, check out comments in the TE report about African economic growth in this article...you will be shocked at the amount of ignorance about Africa...you have the Sarah Palin type labelling Africa, a country??? What's wrong with US geography lesson??? Perhaps this is because of CNN's Jim Clancy presentations...the man presents an incident in Kenya and he say "in Africa..."
By the way, I have notice some fairly balanced reporting from Al Jazeera Intl...on Zimbabwe, for example they were on the ground in during the inflationary days and recently showed what the situation is...a change for the better...they ran a report on Green Technology in Zimbabwe...and another report of the Angolan economy being a safe bet for immigrants from Portugal running away from economic distress
By the way there are problems in Africa, yes there is corruption, but there is no point in the blogger mentioning corruption in Africa w/o citing specific country cases...or blogging about violence in Zimbabwe when there was worse violence during the Rhodesian days or Mugabe's early years in power(only that then he protected white capital while exterminating his Ndebele countryman)...no wonder why i see so much ignorance about Africa, in Europe, Africa & the Americas.
Yes there is a worthy winner in 2012, Rupiah Banda of Zambia...by the way zambia is in Africa, capital Lusaka...google it!
With all your optimism would you forcast starvation ending on the continent in the next few months.
regards
"the land reforms seem to be paying off based on objective studies by an English academic"
The problem with Africa is simple: Africans in power don't understand exactly what are 'objective studies'(don't know, don't want to know, incapable of knowing). Democracy is not an entitlement to reward your tribe, or dis-empower your opponent. South Korea and Ghana had the same GDP in 1957 - Korea's success is due to their devotion to education, despite not having any natural resources . Western media has run out of excuses for Africa - we have enough problems at home! The money has finally dried up.
@ usa football is the best.
Granted there is starvation in the areas around the horn of Africa/East Africa, specifically Somalia and parts of Ethiopia, these are 2 or three countries out of a 53 or so countries. If you live/have travelled in Africa, you will notice that even subsistence households in rural Africa countries cannot starve even if dependent on natural rainfall to grow their crops. This is particularly the case in Southern African countries(incl Malwai, Zimbabwe & Madagascar-the so called failed states of Southern Africa) This is an areas that I have travelled/lived extensively during my working life. The nature, economy, structure of land-ownership in rural Africa with its poor infrastructure and weaknesses is such that it has its own safety nets and avoids starvation...otherwise you'll be getting news of starvation reports daily.
As far as Somalia is concerned, it i am hopeful that one day the country will find peace and become self-reliant...but we must know that Somalia is but one country in a continent of now 54 countries(incl South Sudan)
Not all African countries' politics is tribe-based, take Zambia, or Botswana...I always deliberately avoid South Africa because a tribe of Afrikaaners introduced tribal politics there...why fingers aint pointed at them is due to the colour of their skin.
You are right Ghana & South Korea had the same GPD in '57...I'm not sure whether this relevant to the debate about media bias..we all know there are problems in African countries but the issue here has to do with media bias...negative media bias...just to demonstrate to you what media bias can do...remember Iraq b4 2003, with all the WMD propaganda, how many innocent people died for us lies that were reinforced by reputable media houses...I believe African & world leaders do not believe what is "objective studies"...people are still suffering in Iraq because of lies & media propaganda overdrive...which is what is happening in Africa
I always deliberately avoid South Africa because a tribe of Afrikaaners introduced tribal politics there...why fingers aint pointed at them is due to the colour of their skin.
Maybe it's more due to the growth of South Africa's GDP.
Though one should note that even here in southern (and very Republican) USA Sarah Palin isn't known for brains, knowledge, logic, reason, or anything involving any form of intellectual capacity whatsoever, so I think that's a bit of an unfair example :P
I did google Lusaka to fly over Zambia's central plateau. I don't speak Nyanja, but do speak (and read) English. I appreciate your very heartfelt comment. Happy new year, sir!
It is interesting to see countries like China stepping into former European colonies and making massive investments as shown here:
http://viableopposition.blogspot.com/2010/12/angola-new-best-friend-fore...
While these infrastructure investments may be helping African economies, it seems more than coincidental that they are taking place in countries with massive resource bases that will ultimately benefit the resource-hungry investing nation. Once these resources are depleted, will Africa return to its post-colonial disintegration?