Media asked to change tack in reporting Africa

By Augustine Oduor

The media in Africa have been urged to lead the way in mending the continent’s image abroad.

Speaking on Friday at the Pan African Media Conference in Nairobi, delegates accused the local media of failing to report on Africa positively, thus giving the outside world a wrong image of the continent.

Journalists were urged to avoid pressure to seek aid from donors by running ‘dark stories’ and instead adopt a new approach to report positive events such as sports.

"If we report negative stories, what do we expect the international media to report," asked David Matsanga, a delegate.

Delegates at the Pan African Media Conference at KICC, Nairobi, on Friday. Photo: Tabitha Otwori/Standard

Participants said even though the international media continued to get ‘big’ stories from Africa, it is time the local media led the way by reporting "good things".

The conference round table, which included various media personalities and students, accused journalists of ignoring development subjects.

Mr Kiprono Kittony, the chairman of Radio Africa, said the local media overemphasised stories on politicians, ignoring progressive stories.

He said audiences dictate the content but there was need for a middle ground.

Citing the post-election violence, Kittony urged local media owners to tame hate speech.

Good reports

"Responsibility of a journalist is not just to get good stories but also check the impact of the story in the eye of the world," he added.

David McKenzie, a CNN correspondent, said: "The international media have realised Africa is an important audience."

He added: "The role of a journalist is to report, appeal to the audience, tell the story and educate them. There is, however, a trade off between what I find interesting and what the audience wants. We meet somewhere in the middle and that is the challenge," he said.

He said there are many clichÈs about Africa that needs to be taken away.

"Kenya has a very good opportunity to tell the world its story. Take advantage of the new social media, the optic cable and the many local and international media," he added.