[ad_1]
It is often said, with good reason at times, that much of what is known about Africa worldwide comes from created narratives and carefully selected images by the media, often global media. African media are often said to play the role of unsuspecting facilitators of such narratives, where they play the role of ‘local partner’ for international media houses, or direct and independent providers of such narratives, as they seek. . satisfy the hunger for international news by cliché African stories simply by feeding such hunger with stories that affirm your biases.
Others say African media players don’t always make enough effort to deliberately correct misconceptions about the continent, or at least counterbalance many of the negative stories circulating in global media with the positive ones that represent a continent of many narratives. , with a host of positive stories waiting to be told. Much of what is currently circulating focuses on the common themes of poverty, political and economic instability, corruption, poor health facilities and services, etc., the global hunger that seems insatiable.
AFRICAN MEDIA IN COVID-19
The reality of the African media, however, is much more nuanced than many people out there have become accustomed to. And, contrary to popular and stubborn perceptions, Africa is neither a country nor a homogeneous piece of land with a history, a culture, a government and the same political and economic realities from north to south and from west to east. The same applies to the African media. It is as diverse as the continent on which it operates, both in terms of sophistication and scope.
While free and independent media space has often been quite limited across much of the continent, and many governments prefer state-owned media to private media, there is a growing community of pan-African media professionals and houses that maintain jealously their independence from political power. Africa is also not immune to the growth of citizen journalists.
They are younger, more connected globally, curious, informed, opinionated, and, most importantly, concerned about the impact of negative cliche reporting on how Africans are perceived around the world and on well-being. African economy. Since the start of the Coronavirus, reportedly in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and its arrival in Africa during March, the African media have tried to work with national, regional and continental organizations, also in concert with the World Organization of Health (WHO), to coordinate messages aimed at informing, educating, empowering and securing communities in specific countries and throughout the continent on, among others:
- The origins and pathology of the coronavirus / COVID-1
- What is and what is not
- The best hygiene practices for the protection of oneself and others.
- The importance of testing; especially when symptoms are suspected
- Steps to follow after testing positive
- The dangers of “fake news” and the importance of distinguishing between legitimate sources of information about Coronavirus / COVID-19 from false / misleading sources that are often designed to manipulate public opinion
KEY CHALLENGES
Due to the diversity of terrain and disparities in levels of Internet access in various parts of the continent, all countries in Africa do not enjoy the same level of media reach and Internet connections.
Therefore, while overall levels of access to credible media sources remain a challenge, Africa is also one of the fastest growing regions in the world in terms of internet access and use of internet-enabled smartphones. In terms of use of social media platforms, the figures from March 2019 to March 2020 indicate that Facebook is the most popular platform with 72.2%, followed by YouTube (11.12%), Twitter (5.61%), Pinterest (5.35 %), Instagram (4.55%) and Tumblr (0.06%). Rapid advances in telecommunications in Africa, especially mobile phones and the Internet, are crucial enablers for expanding much-needed media outreach on the continent.
In traditional media terms, radio remains king. Local newspapers follow. Together, they continue to play an important role as sources of information for many communities across the continent, especially those that are far removed from major cosmopolitan centers. While access to a variety of independent news sources is good for democracies, as it weakens the dominance of government media, which is not always objective, it also opens people without discernment to possible misleading information being spread. by fake news sites that should always be guarded against.
To overcome these access challenges, the African media are finding an increasing number of ways to syndicate news locally, through various forms of collaboration with their counterparts, and to ensure that important information about COVID-19 is disseminated through a variety of platforms, including social media. , with the same events across national and regional borders. Healthy partnerships with government communicators also go a long way toward avoiding factual conflict and rejecting the deceptive influence of fake news sources. This is an endless battle in much of the world.
Thoko Modise is the interim director of marketing and general manager: communication at Brand South Africa; South Africa’s official marketing agency with a mandate to build the country’s brand reputation and enhance its global competitiveness.
[ad_2]
