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Introduction to Contemporary Africa AFR 110 Chanda Burrage

Introduction Perceptions, Misconceptions & Media Bias

+ Africa n Second largest continent

n Second most populous, after Asia

n One billion people, as of 2009

n 53 or 54 recognized States (Somaliland is debatable)

n Origin of humans

n Straddles the equator

n Encompasses numerous climate areas

+“Misinformation about Africa has become a growth industry in the West.” Ama Biney

n  Misrepresentations -> stereotypes & generalizations

n  “Dark Continent” n  Primeval irrationality

n  Tribal anarchy

n  Civil War

n  Political instability

n  Flagrant corruption

n  Incompetent leadership

n  Hunger, famine & starvation

n  Rampant diseases, especially AIDS

+Media Critiques

n  How Not to Write about Africa, Binyavanga Wainaina www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-jSQD5FVxE

n  http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jun/03/how-not-to-write-about-africa

n  http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/04/25/how_not_to_write_about_africa

+ Perception

n Even if we have not visited a place, we all have an image in our minds of what that place is like.

n Where does that information come from?

n People we know who have visited a place n An expert or teacher n May not have visited a place but may have

studied it extensively n The media n We form our opinions based on what we read,

hear and see

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When we learn about a place for the first time: What is the best source of information? Who do we trust?

+Limited Information & Bias

n Limited information n Promotes unfair impression of what a place is like

n Bias n Leads to the wrong idea of what a place is like

n Africa is a continent but the media often portrays Africa as if it is one country – all the same everywhere you go

n As a general rule, the media loves reporting ‘bad news’ n Only rarely reports ‘good news’

+ What impression do these words give you about life in Africa?

Words taken from a single webpage from BBC news website

Ethiopian hardships Zimbabwe in meltdown

Starting from scratch

Village’s food shortages

Hunger & Misery Food crisis

Animals starve Struggling to eat History of drought

Aid figures Lesotho starves Drought-stricken community

Affected countries GM struggle Food aid addiction

Recurring hunger crisis

Zambia: fertile but hungry

Digging for scarce water

Battle with AIDS More harm than good Struggle to survive

+Blog Assignment #1 – Due Sept. 3rd (Midnight) n  Choose any news article related to any African country or

African issue.

n  Write a 500 - 1000 word blog answering the following questions. n  What is the issue discussed? Where? n  Why is it important? n  What key words/tone does the author use to describe the

situation? Have we discussed any of these words in Lecture 1? n  What impression do you get from the words used? Stereotypical,

biased, neutral, positive, hopeful? n  What is the source of the story? CNN, Aljazeera, BBC…charitable

organization…business website…? n  Do you think the source impacts the choice of words/tone used?

How so? n  Your personal thoughts about issue/tone?

+Misnomers & Stereotypes n “Country of Africa”

n “Tribes”

n “Savage”

n “jungles”

news.bbc.co.uk

homepages.wmich.edu sharingcentre.net

AFRICA

OR

NOT ?

All photo images sourced from Creative Commons images on Flickr

You are about to see 16 images. The photos were taken in many different countries.

Your task is to decide if each photo was taken in an African country or not.

It would be useful to look for clues in each photo so that rather than guessing, you had some evidence for your answers.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

AFRICA

OR

NOT ?

Answers…

Answers:

1.  AFRICA – lorry drivers in Sudan.

2.  AFRICA – teenage girls in South Africa.

3.  AFRICA – a wedding in Sudan.

4.  AFRICA – an advert for baby products in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

5.  AFRICA – a view over the city of Cape Town in South Africa

6.  AFRICA – modern electric railway system in Morocco

7.  AFRICA – football stadium in Ghana

8.  AFRICA - primary school children in Kenya

9.  AFRICA – airport red carpet for the arrival of the Malawi president

10. AFRICA – a church in South Africa

11.  AFRICA – fruit and vegetable stall in South Africa

12. AFRICA – large modern fishing boats in the harbour in Morocco

13. AFRICA – modern city building in Equatorial Guinea.

14. NOT AFRICA – masai tribesman working in a wildlife park in California, USA.

15. AFRICA – McDonalds restaurant in Morocco

16. AFRICA – cape penguins in South Africa.

And just in case you were thinking well obviously they don't use mobile phones in African countries………….

Well they do!!

+Images of Africa (See James Michira 2002)

n  Africa as Homogenous Entity

n  Africa “The Dark Continent”

n  Africa the Wild/Jungle

n  Hunger, Famine and Starvation

n  Endemic Violence, Conflict and Civil War

n  Political Instability and the Coup Cycle

n  Africa and HIV/AIDS

+False Perceptions about Africa

n  Africa is a homogenous continent

n  Often presented as if it were one large country

n  Africa is made up of independent countries

n  Africa is inhabited by peoples of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds

n  Movie: The Air Up There and Endurance

n  Captions on TV Screen

n  “Conversation in African Language”

n  “Singing in African Language”

+False Perceptions about Africa

n  Africa “The Dark Continent”

n  Africa – devoid of history

n  Perpetuated by Western traders, missionaries, adventurers and explorers and Western Media

n  Africa – The White Man’s Burden

n  Kipling’s 1899 poem discussing the American (imperialism) colonization of the Philippines

n  http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5478/

+False Perceptions about Africa

n  Africa is a poor continent n  Actually one of the wealthiest

continents in terms of natural resources

n  Rich reserves of coltan, diamonds, gold, oil, gas and timber

n  While there are many wealthy people living on the continent, this wealth has not translated into better living conditions for the average African person

n  Reasons

n  Colonization

n  Corruption

n  Armed Conflict

n  Policies of International financial institutions i.e., World Bank and IMF

+False Perceptions about Africa

n  Africa is a wild jungle

n  When does a drought that threatens millions of lives become news that fits the front page of The New York Times?

n  When animals die.

n  “The Animalization of Africa”

n  Animal Planet

n  Discovery Channel

n  Disney Safari Boat Trips

+False Perceptions about Africa

n  Africans are Tribal n  “Tribe” is actually a European

word, not an African one

n  “Tribe” used to identify an “ethnic group”

n  Not uncommon for North Americans to think of Africans as tribes, but to think about Canadians, Mexicans or French as “ethnic groups” or “countries

n  “Tribe” associated with negative concepts like social backwardness and unsophisticated technology

n  Many Africans now use the term “tribe”

Maasai Tribe in Kenya

+False Perceptions about Africa n  All Africans look the same

and share the same ancestral background

n  Numerous different skin colors and physical attributes

n  Indigenous Africans

n  Ancestors were African

n  Immigrants

n  Persians, Arabs, Europeans, Indians, Chinese, Lebanese, etc.

+False Perceptions about Africa n  People in Africa are not

educated

n  Although access to education is often limited due to cost of school fees, uniforms and supplies, there are countless numbers of highly educated people living in Africa

n  49% of African immigrants in the US age 25 years or older posses a BA or higher n  33% European immigrants n  45% Asian immigrants n  6% Central Americans n  25% South Americans n  Source: Toronto Star, 2006

+False Perceptions about Africa

n  Hunger, famine and starvation

n  Images of poor, emaciated and malnourished women and children

n  Empty eyes, hopeless, as if pleading for mercy

+False Perceptions about Africa

n  Endemic violence, conflict and civil war

n  Media reports about war and conflict are often crisis driven in such a way as to imply that Africans are naturally savage, warlike, violent and steeped in tribal feuds.

+False Perceptions about Africa

n  Africa and AIDS

n  The media attributes the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa to

n  Ignorance

n  The reluctance to change sexual behavior and

n  Backward cultural & religious traditions

+Justifying the Media Images

n  Commercialization of News and Corporate Factor

n  Profit driven

n  Western monopoly of Ideas and Opinion

n  Determine what is reported and “exported” to the African media about Africa and the rest of the world

n  Textbook and School Curriculum

n  The average American student is

n  Not exposed to the history and geography of Africa or

n  Exposed to materials that contain inaccurate information

n  Wild, exotic Africa

n  Highlight non-representative groups like the Maasai, San and Bushmen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpkJ1bG5LlM&feature=related

Video

+Summary

n Most Western perceptions of Africa n Based on stereotypes n Based on an inadequate historical or conceptual

framework for understanding and interpretation

n The media tend to reinforce these misperceptions n Almost exclusive focus on the exotic or on negative

news such as drought and famine, civil war and widespread poverty

n AFRICA IS SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT!!!

+FYI: Haile Gabrselaise Long Distance Runner

n  Haile Gabrselassie www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt2cyvm-YjQ

n  Haile Gabrselaise (“Greatest run of all time”) www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvqAIl_Ydiw