Can the Media begin to Even Fathom Africa?

Max Drummond

Ms. Tompkins

WLH 2

10 March 2015

Can the Media begin to Even Fathom Africa?

    The media of today is a fast-paced, brainless beast, with attention for only the dramatic, and the ground-breaking, not the accurate details.  In such an indifferent world, the small details, the important facts, and the humanity of a situation can be entirely overlooked.  Such occurrences are all too common in a quick-changing area like Africa.  In fact, media degradation is having a serious affect on African pride, warping not only the whole world’s view of Africa, but also how Africa views itself.  

But what exactly is the main obstacle preventing politically correct publications?  Nanjala Nyabola from Al Jazeera blames an inability for correct translation, and states that when a multilingual person switches between languages, it's not just about finding the grammar or the syntax that best represents what they're trying to say. It's also about coded messages that indicate familiarity with the spoken to; that demand fraternity; that create space for all sorts of unspoken communication. It is in the informality of sheng' that tea (chai) or a soft drink (soda) becomes a bribe (Nyabola).  This means that, unfortunately, much informal spoken information may be lost in translation due to a worryingly small issue.  This issue is present in mainly small states, therefore an entire continent is an anomaly.  Simply because they have no media houses of their own in Africa that are taken seriously.

Patrick Gathara of The Guardian says that few African media houses are actually trying to cover the continent for the continent (Gathara). His reasoning coming from the fact that education is so thinly spread amongst the enormous population.  So if the West don’t understand the continent, and the continent doesn’t bother trying to cover itself, what are the issues behind Western coverage? The sheer inaccessibility of the elephantine land mass makes it incredibly hard to be anywhere in time to cover a story with an on scene reporter, forcing reporters to write from (often biased) eyewitness accounts, and sometimes from sources less reputable than that.  The continent is simply so big!  

And yet, even from the comfort of our own continent, the West often gets the affairs of Africa published in such a way that it causes outrage among activists and Africans alike.  Yurii Horton and associates believe that the media sets the tone for the morals, values, and images of our culture. Many people in this country, some of whom have never encountered black people, believe that the degrading stereotypes of blacks are based on reality and not fiction (Horton). If the media are expected to write about a people while that same media perpetuates awful stereotypes, how can they be expected to write factual articles without a hint of bias?  There is no direct culprit for this issue, be it an inability for translation, or a racist mindset belonging to the only media house writing on the problems of a continent, this issue does not just require public attention, but stands prominent among other issues, demanding, screaming for recognition, and ultimately solution.        

Works Cited:

Nyabola, Nanjala. "Why Do Western Media Get Africa Wrong?" - Al Jazeera English. - Al Jazeera English, 2 Jan. 2014. Web. 08 Mar. 2015. <http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/01/why-do-western-media-get-africa-wrong-20141152641935954.html?utm=from_old_mobile>.

Gathara, Patrick. "If Western Journalists Get Africa Wrong, Who Gets It Right?" If Western Journalists Get Africa Wrong, Who Gets It Right? The Guardian, 24 Jan. 2014. Web. 8 Mar. 2015. <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/24/africa-media-who-gets-right>.

Horton, Yurii, Raagen Price, and Eric Brown. "Portrayal of Minorities in the Film, Media and Entertainment Industries." Portrayal of Minorities in the Film, Media and Entertainment Industries. EDGE, 1 June 1999. Web. 8 Mar. 2015. <https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/mediarace/portrayal.htm>.