Africa in the news

Abstract

Abstract provided by author

We are living in the information age where it is of utmost importance to be skilled with information and knowledge in order to stay abreast with the latest happenings in order to get that all important competitive edge to make it in life, "the media is responsible for shaping the pictures in our heads" (Walter Lippmann, 1922). It is against this background that it was almost "natural" for me to investigate the flow of news and how Africa is portrayed in all these happenings

Over the last few years there has been growing tension between the foreign media and African leaders. For years there have been a general feeling that the western media portrays Africa in a negative light leaving out the positive aspects of African development. This topic attempts to investigate the manner in which foreign media portrays Africa with special focus on the Namibian context

These foreign media organisations include broadcasting corporations from three major continents, reporting on Africa for e.g. CNN from America and SKY from Europe compared to SABC - Africa that is from the African continent. This is done in order to get a balanced view of how each of these broadcasters perceives Africa to be

The study also aims at comparing and contrasting differences between how CNN, BBC, and SABC - Africa; the question remains: " is there a difference in reporting between media from foreign continents compared to a broadcaster which is from the African continent". This study is based on conducting a content analysis of the news of all three major continents

This research is unique because the portrayal of African by foreign news media has been the focus of heated debate throughout the African continent as news affects everyone in society (socially, economically and politically) and therefore should be representative. This is also the first research of its kind done in Namibia and will be a foundation for future researchers who would want to study pattern of news coverage