27 April 2011
editorial
Nairobi — For years now, the heavy reliance on Western news agencies has shaped the worldview of Africa.
That is why complaints abound that the only news emanating from the continent is that of drought, starvation, war, disease and poverty.
We, in the profession, have been largely to blame for this.
Even today, we accept without question the negative views on Africa and other developing regions given prominence by the Western media.
A Kenya-China Media Conference held in Nairobi on Tuesday resolved that steps be taken by developing countries to minimise Western dominance of the global information flow.
However, that will not be achieved by replacing one source of news with another foreign one that might also have its own hegemonic designs.
So what is the way forward? African media houses must make deliberate efforts to ‘decolonise’ their minds so that they source news beyond the traditional Western agencies.
Collaboration between media houses in different countries can help a great deal in that effort.
African media must also make serious investment in news-gathering capabilities across the continent and beyond.
To its credit, the Nation Media Group is already doing that.
AllAfrica – All the Time
See the original post:
‘Decolonise’ Our Media