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America and Britain have
become the dominant powers superimposing themselves on the rest of the world.
Their coverage on Africa continues to be biased and limited in scope focusing on
conflicts, disasters and elections whilst major issues on African economies are
often neglected.
Africa has now become a source of bad news being characterised by famine, civil wars and diseases. The Western media sees almost nothing positive to write about on Africa, apart from presidential visits and elections when they will be mainly interested in influencing the outcome to further their own interests. There exists a great imbalance in the flow of information between the West and developing countries such as Africa. Almost 80 percent of the world news flow is said to originate from the major news agencies of the rich North. The world�s news sources are dominated by the big four news agencies � Associated Press (AP), United Press International (UPI) from the United States, Reuters from Britain and Agence France-Presse (AFP) from France which form the heart of the world�s news system. Cable News Network is said to be the world�s biggest television news network with news coverage to more than 100 countries in the world. According to the Unesco report, the ratio of information flow from the West to developing countries is 5 to 1. Developing countries such as Africa have become passive consumers of information manufactured and packaged in the West. It only takes a few seconds for America to convince the rest of the world that Africa is bad whilst it might take another solar eclipse in Zimbabwe for Africa to do the same. In the 1970s, developing countries mobilised through the involvement of Unesco to bridge this information divide by ensuring a fair redistribution of global information resources. This gave birth to the New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO). Through the NWICO movement, the less developed countries sought to redress the imbalances and disparities in information flow from the North to the South and move away from heavy dependency on Western media. Although NWICO has been proposed for over three decades, the imbalances still exists. The MacBride report of 1980 also revealed these imbalances in information flow from the West to developing countries. The report suggested that developing countries reduce their dependence, and claim a new and more just and equitable order in the field of communication. The commission recommended that the existing communication gap be rapidly narrowed and eventually eliminated. Through colonialism, Africans were socialised to accept anything coming from the West unquestioningly. Today a new form of colonialism � media imperialism � a brainchild of the Americans and the British, is being propagated through the media. At the height of media imperialism, are Western news agencies such as CNN and BBC, which have often been accused of biased reporting against the South, especially Africa. Powerful Western conglomerates now control most influential media empires around the world, which includes multinational corporations such as Disney, Time Warner, Sony, Viacom, Bertelsmann and General Electric. Whilst the conglomerates flourish, Africa is being turned into a dumping ground for old American media products at low prices to secure a stronghold in emerging markets, regardless of the relevance of these commodities. As the West continues in its dominant position of controlling the products sold to the rest of the world, it should be noted that the messages being channelled through the media are not immune from ideological angling. It is believed that the world is being made in the image of the West. For the majority, the world is seen through the eyes of CNN. If CNN did not report it, then it didn�t happen. According to Karl Marx, the dominant class in society not only owns the means of material production, but also controls the mental production. Marx�s statement can be applied in the Zimbabwean context in which America and Britain are using the media to influence events in Zimbabwe by fuelling tension between the Government and the opposition. In the age of media imperialism like what Osama El-Sherif wrote, the notion of the sovereign state quickly disappears as satellite dishes become a common sight in the urban landscape, a sign of a new world where governments no longer have the undivided attention of their citizens. Pakistan media analyst GP SM Hali lists a number of "techniques" used by media conglomerates to control their audiences, among them: repetition of lies, opinions as fact, half truths, misleading headlines, biased photographs, censorship, wrongful attribution and yellow journalism which he says is a Western intervention strategy. Media imperialism is not only experienced in developing countries such as Africa but surprisingly enough, developed countries like Canada are reeling under it as the consumption of American products through television, movies, music and magazines increases. The Canadians are helpless to contain the situation, as they do not have enough political power to protect themselves. With their vast resources and monopoly on global media, other cultures easily fall prey to American media imperialism. China over the decades has managed to resist Western penetration into its media system. The government of China is said to have conservative foreign policies on foreign television and is even anti-foreign. Numerous bans were imposed to minimise the impact from foreign television. Hong Kong has also succeeded in establishing its own culture with heavy reliance on local production. America, which is perceived to be the most powerful country in the whole world, equally has its own shortcomings. In the past, America defied orders such as the Kyoto deal on global warming among others and is currently in the forefront of fuelling tension between the Palestinians and the Israelis. America is accusing Iraq of holding weapons of mass destruction and has already taken a stance to attack Iraq though a report by the inspection�s team has not yet been released. CNN on the other hand has been biased in its coverage on the events unfolding in the Middle East. Meanwhile, a lot of innocent blood is being lost in the Middle East whilst America embarks on a massive war campaign in a bid to crash terrorism. It is high time that Africa united and fought negative coverage as well as media imperialism. African coalitions such as Nepad should play an active role in redressing the imbalances in information flow between the West and Africa. It should also fight for a balanced and unbiased coverage of issues pertaining to Africa. The Mulindwas
communication group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" |
