“The image of Africa in the western media is awful,” said Mel Foote, founder of Constituency For Africa (CFA) and convener of a Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Weekend roundtable discussion of news media coverage of the continent. “The thing we have to do is to improve the image of Africa.”

The four-hour meeting, part of the Ron Brown Legislative Affairs Series, brought together media professionals from a wide range of outlets, including the BBC, AllAfrica.com, Pacifica Radio, and Voice Of America, along with community activists, and policy groups. Journalists from African American and African news organizations were eager to increase exchanges of news, resources, and content.

Dr. Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika, Zambian Ambassador to the United States, spoke of her own experiences in America as young student. When she first arrived in the U.S., the ambassador recalled, her hosts were surprised that she didn’t resemble the half-naked Africans portrayed in the Tarzan movies. “The image we have of Africa is the bad, ugly and the gruesome,” said Mbikusita-Lewanika. “Anything good, beautiful, or progressive, no one (in media) will cover that,” she said, dryly. The ambassador also called for African nations to utilize wireless technology and solar energy to bridge the technology gap. “This very thing (technology) is what will put Africa ahead… I can assure you that Africa will catch up and surpass (western nations).”

The roundtable was held at Washington’s Africare House, an organization with a 30-year history of work on African issues.

George Curry, noted journalist and head of BlackPressUSA.com, the flagship portal of the National Newspaper publishers Association (NNPA), remarked on the unfortunate consistency of major media coverage of Africa and Black America. “I was struck listening to the ambassador on how Africa is covered (by media),” said Curry. “That’s no different than how Black people are covered here (in the United States),” he chuckled. The NNPA’s 200-plus Black newspapers reach a weekly audience of 10 million.

Curry called for more African Americans to “go to Africa,” noting that he receives trip offers every week to visit other nations. He also called for African Americans to move beyond the current political paradigm that thrusts the majority of responsibilities for all of Black America’s ills, including negative media portrayals, upon Civil Rights groups. “There are enough other groups” of educated and organized African Americans “to work through to become more effective,” said Curry.

Media is a business, AllAfrica.com president Amadou Mahtar Ba reminded his colleagues. Groups go with what sells. AllAfrica.com’s business model allows it to subsidize news from over 120 African publishers by providing technology for banks and other organizations. Mahtar Ba explained that the Pan African News Agency (PANA) and other media groups cover Africa from a perspective that also appeals to non-African audiences. “I think that on the issue of reporting, it’s all about the bottom line,” said Mahtar Ba, who along with Curry will facilitate the exchange of content between Black and African media.

The participants also agreed to establish an annual forum for journalists, publishers, and news media organizations that provide media coverage of Africa and Black America. Additional projects include increased news training and exchange opportunities between African and African American media, as well as development of an organization that will syndicate broadcast journalism programs catering to the African and African American communities.

While many at the roundtable focused on the media’s incessantly negative portrayal of Africa, or the progressive media’s lack of resources, Black media expert Dr. Todd Burroughs offered a different perspective. “I’m very optimistic,” he said. “WHUT (Howard University Television), has the potential to have five channels on the digital spectrum. We could have a Black C-Span just on one of those five channels,” said Burroughs.

Burroughs’ optimism represents a new thinking among Africans in the Diaspora, and those on the continent. No longer waiting for someone else to address issues impacting Africa or Black America, these journalists appear determined to hoist the heavy mantle of leadership off the shoulders of the few and onto the shoulders of the many.

“As African Americans and Africans, its our responsibility to speak up and about the images of Africans,” said Angelique Shofar, host of Africa Meets Africa, on WPFW 89.3 in Washington, DC. “It’s about getting them (media) to step into our world and educating them.”

October 9, 2003
Issue 59

is published every Thursday.