The media and Africa: who is failing whom?
Does South Africa and Africa as a whole only receive negative international news coverage and, if so, is the international media is failing us?
This is the viewpoint I was asked to argue during a panel discussion at the International Media Forum South Africa in Joburg last week
It was a difficult viewpoint to argue as I didn't even agree with the first part of the statement! One has only to read articles on South Africa in the Washington Post or watch CNN's Inside Africa to see that Africa does receive some positive coverage (albeit limited), beyond the usual stories of death, disease, disaster and despair.
Research conducted by Media Tenor, which monitors the coverage of 96 international media, between January 2007 and April this year, shows that South Africa actually spent four of the past 16 months with a net positive rating (i.e. international media sentiment for that month was predominantly positive).
However, the research also indicated a recent trend that suggested that international journalists are becoming increasingly critical of South Africa, and that as a result, they are more likely to select news items in the future that reflect their reservations.
The most problematic coverage of South Africa hails from the developed world: the Netherlands, the UK, the USA and Germany are the most critical. The media in developing countries, such as China, India and Botswana were far less critical. The reasons for the discrepancy in the degree of negativity weren't outlined in the research, but I would venture a theory that developed nations may judge us - and other developing nations - too harshly, using their own yardsticks and frames of reference as established democracies. Developing nations, on the other hand, may have a greater understanding of the challenges and realities of their counterparts (because they share many of the same challenges).
Although it is clear that South Africa and Africa as a whole don't only receive negative press, I was interested in exploring the second part of the viewpoint - whether the international media was perhaps failing the continent.
Generally, international media are poorly represented in Africa, with just a handful of correspondents covering a vast and complex continent. This results in sparse, narrow and superficial coverage of Africa in the overseas press.
With the advent of 24-hour rolling news, shrinking lead times and the increasing demand for content, media publications are increasingly turning to news wires, such as Reuters and AFP, for content. The four major news wires contribute 90% of international news. It is very possible for the same article, with the same views and opinions, to appear in hundreds if not thousands of media publications!
Perhaps the international media are failing Africa in that they are not investing sufficient resources in the continent to do it justice and to give it a more rounded and deeper representation.
However, they are not helped by the lack of resources in Africa. As Helge Ronning of Oslo University points out, good foreign journalism is dependent on access to sufficient resources and deep local knowledge, both of which are just not readily available. Africa lacks the funds to set, rather than just receive, the news agenda for the continent.
With this in mind, perhaps Africa then is failing the international media?
Research also suggests that stretched international media houses also get their cues from the local media. South African media, for example, are thought to influence international media correspondents' coverage of the country. Throw in that international media use local freelance journalists or republish articles that have appeared in local papers, and the influence of local media internationally increases.
In our experience of closely monitoring the South African media over the last few years, while at the same time tracking progress and positive developments, we would contend that the South African media are less than willing to carry positive stories. Anecdotally, we have approached mass media publications in this country and offered them a regular 'good news section' in their newspapers or websites. With the notable exception of the Mail & Guardian Online, we have been told in no uncertain terms that they are not in the business of pushing good news.
It can therefore be argued that the international media reflects the country that the South African news publications portray.
Perhaps, then, local media is failing South Africa? (The debate whether South African media have a role, or even an obligation, for nation-building over and above their responsibility to keep citizens informed, is one for another day.)
So who is failing whom?
I think that Africa is actually failing itself. Africans, African Governments and African businesses should take the lead in presenting to the World a different face of Africa, one that highlights the successes, ingenuity and progress of the continent. The responsibility lies with us.
As Tina van der Heyden of Rhodes University says "As long as bad news sells (and it most certainly will for a long time to come), we shouldn't hold our breath waiting for the Western media to realise that their images are not an accurate portrayal of Africa's reality. As Africans, we need to stop seeing ourselves through the eyes of the Western media and find a way to make them see us as we see ourselves."
