African image
| 12:16 UK time, Saturday, 11 November 2006
The key criticism of nearly all journalism about Africa is that we only hear about the continent's problems - usually by parachuting into an area for a quick hit. Certainly reports can be templated and cliched - how many times have you seen a TV package begin with a close-up of a crying baby surrounded by flies and finishing with a reporter standing in front of a group of people with whom s/he has failed to engage?
The worry that we we sometimes fail to treat Africans as real human beings with many of the same dreams and desires as we have in the West prompted the commissioning of two reports from Fergal Keane and cameraman Darren Conway on the people of Turkana in Northern Kenya. They are nomads - but their lifestyle is threatened by almost constant drought. It would have been easy to focus just on that - but we knew there would also be stories of courage and hope - and felt only by living with them for a week would we be able to fully understand their situation.
Fergal was keen - but we also talked about how what we were doing could be deeply patronising - he could end up looking like a tourist. With help from Oxfam the team set off for Turkana - the combination of stunning pictures and subtle scripting helped us to avoid the major traps.
The first piece focused on Kevina Esinyan and her children (you can watch it here). They walked in the blistering heat to the water pump, watched as her children did their homework and heard her hopes and fears. The result was a powerful sense of a remarkable and proud woman living in extraordinary circumstances.
The team spent the last few days with the men fishing on the lake which recedes year by year - (you can watch that piece here). It is equally successful in showing how the Turkana are diversifying rather than depending on foreign aid.
Comments
"A remarkable and proud woman"? Is she really? Or aren't you just being slightly patronising again? I appreciate your desire to portray the people of Africa as "real human beings" rather than downtrodden, miserable victims, but investing saintly qualities in them is no more realistic than any other approach. Also, does spending a week in a village rather than just a few minutes really enable you to "fully understand their situation"? Surely the main divide between Feargal Keane and the villages is that no matter how long he chooses to stay, he can always leave whenever he wants. They can't.
Full marks though otherwise. At least you covered the story.
The problem isn't focusing on Africans as real human beings, it's the absence of any dicussion of the problems facing the continent, or rather its tropical majority.
If the post-1994 crisis in (and extending far beyond) the Lakes region has shown anything, it's that local responses aren't enough - still less comforting homilies about governance and deregulation.
Yes, enough of the flies. We do need to know how the few success stories are happening, and not just the ones founded on ephemeral commodity price bubbles. But above all we need to know where the international system's failing a continent.
I have never understood the argument. Are we really suggesting that the tragic images we see are an invention of the Western newsmedia, that most of our people are not living like vermin due to our rulers' contempt for our basic needs? Or that our dehumanizing poverty should be overlooked, just because some of us are either able to survive in spite of the difficulties, or can afford to live in fabulous luxury mainky because of their connections with those in power? Just what is the argument?
I have worked as a field scientist in Africa (Nigeria) for several years. I agree that any attempt to report on Africa in a non-cliched way is difficult but necessary and should be commended. People in Africa are first and foremost people; they have ideas and talents like people everywhere. Many of them face problems on a daily basis that would utterly defeat us in the West, but they 'manage' as Nigerians say. Of course there is not one 'Africa' and that message can only come across throught this kind of reporting.
As much as we appreciate there are significant challenges facing us as a continent, I think the media hype is unaccaeptable. It is interesting that sometimes pictures shown on the media are unrelated to the story line. We have to rise to the challenge of making life better for our people, but can Africans be given a breathing space? Let us not forget that the so called poverty are in part perpetuated by greedy opportunistic MNC's. I get disgusted about the shame and hypocrisy in the media when unacceptable practices and events happen in certain parts of the continent,but fail to expose those who hide behind the scenes to pursue thier greed, in faciltating some of such unacceptable happenings and to stop them.
Like Nelson Mandella said, either of us cannot rest as long as there is poverty. Let us in truth report in whole.
You make an issue of the misrepresentation of Africa, and then in an attempt to 'tackle' it, you bring out yet another African stereotype - 'primitive' nomads in Turkana, Kenya.
Why not go to a university in Africa and do a study of campus life in an African city for instance?
Why the continued insistence on making the world think THAT Africa -modern, enlightened, progressive, does not exist?
Life for the Turkana has been marginal since time began but thanks not only to climate change but also a culture which measures a mans wealth by the amount of his livestock, what chance has the land got.
First it was cattle, then sheep and finally with no grass left, along came goats to eat the last of the roots, so when and if the rains came there was nothing to grow or stop the top soil of Africa ending up in Indian Ocean.
One day one hopes grazing restrictions and water bailifs will return, in the meantime only wild animals have a future in Africa because when they over graze, they are culled by nature. Finally, don't let the fish stocks in Lake Turkana go the way of the North Sea.
What do you mean by "we sometimes fails to treat africans like real human beings? I just want to let you know that we are human, and we have being living a peaceful life before all the minerals was found in our continent. Africans are the strongest people in heart. We do not have the sickness of the western world, and we are pretty happy for who we are.
What a difficult task it is for journalists to tap into news stories as they happen, but at the same time make sure that the context within which the events which are reported are represented fairly and 'authentically'.
The vast majority of reports these days tend to be very de-humanising. A quick informative soundbite designed to hit a deadline without the possibility to explore the human and social issues fully.
I do think correspondents should get to know the context they report in. I applaud the effort taken to really understand the issues from the perspective of those 'on the ground', as you have done here.
Objective news reporting is never easy, but at least when the time has been taken to establish the 'reality' of the subjects then a more balanced perspective can be presented.
You real did not address your question about western journalists focusing exceesively on the bad rather than what the gov't and private sector are doing.
It is good, I think that as editors you recognise that. But I'm afraid, the story that you highlighted as an example goes just as far in telling that story.
Why is it that people don't imagine that there could be homeless people in the UK? Could it be because the majority of the stories are more positively slanted?
The Turkana story already is a sad one - imagery of drought and saddness already permiate it even as you talk about the positive.
What would be nice would be for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ to tell stories of the successes of people in Africa as well.
What would really help is stories coming out of Africa, highlighting the successful young people here, the growing outsourcing industry in Nairobi, the fact that the executives in Africa are getting younger etc.
Lets see stories of success for a change - without the contrast cliche: e.g. "Africa has a growing number of very young successful executives who are controling 60% of the business, say in east Africa - even though the disparity between them and the poor there continues to grow..."
I listen to ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ all the time.
Unfortunately ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ is represents the worst of the white European. Their intention is to potray the worst image of Africa. They selectively report or not report news based on that philosophy.
Case in point - ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ has been at the fore front of misleading the world that a Judge had said that Zuma had a "generally corrupt relationship" with Shaik. For a long time they have repeated this again and again.
Tired of these lies the judge has written an open letter to the media refusing that he ever said those words. Isnt it surprising that the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ which was so obsessed with this Zuma story suddenly find it is not an improtant issue to report on anymore?
I think the real problem with the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ is racialimperialism.
Good Day Craig,
Interesting to read your piece of the habitants of the motherland. Their reflect on daily lifestyle seem to quench your thirst for you to seek more but how far are they naive to let western audiene see the epidemic side as wailing for western aid. I bet is a pleasure for you to get the chance to explore.
Respectfully,
Moorish Nubian.
thank you for your post.. am an african who's always concerned about just what you mention... there is so much that is positive in africa, and we sure need good news... will watch the pieces just as soon as i can.
The image of Africa has been formed mainly by the western media because it is the west that dominates the world. Not only this, much of what is Africa today is the creation of the Europeans only. With such a background, it would be a great service by the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ to do something for the African continent in bringing the better and more humane sides of the lives and times in Africa. It will, atleast, sow seeds of confidence in the region as elsewhere and will help in initiating the long-awaited development process.
Amitabh Thakur,
Lucknow,
UP
I think it's very easy to become fed up with the same style of documentaries about Africa. If you ask anybody in the street how they think an African lives, they can easily trot out the usual bullet points including walking miles for water, living with an AIDS epidemic, having poor education, being victims of civil war, etc etc etc.
Of course we need to maintain awareness, but it can paint Africa in a very bad light.
What I personally would like to see is more features on the positive sides of Africa. Maybe focus on a developing city and how people are benefiting. How about more on how British businesses are working with African businesses (outside of the energy and mining sector). There is so much more to the continent that people living in abject poverty, but I think we need to help them to shake this image off so that people see it in a positive light and are encouraged to embrace the country instead of thinking it as an aid burden.
i hope for a day when a balanced story is made.ie both the problems facing Africa and the initiatives that are made to improve Africa.we really need those kind of stories.
thanks for making that point i truly agree. i think they want us to feel sorry for africans but the truth is they only go to the very poor parts to shoot there videos. i come from nigeria which is in africa and it is the complete opposite of what they show on tv. if you are to research places like abuja, lagos, ghana on the internet you will find some beautiful pictures of the countries and towns. but that is never what they show you on tv. me personally- i find it very dissapointing that they haven't like had a programme of the normal unpoverty strikken parts of africa like abuja with out all the suffering presenters making a big deal out of sleeping in the forest even though thats what they do on camping trips.
The sooner our soppy do-gooders stop treating Africa as the target of their crocodile pity and leave Africans to get on with their own affairs the better.
Khananja, what you see from the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ is not so much racial imperialism, but the side effect of it - white guilt. Unfortunately this is something all westerners are having oushed down their throats at the moment.