In this piece of the "Changing the Way Business is Done in Africa" series, I provide a commentary on the role of media in promoting business, highlighting the need for real and balanced coverage of Africa.
Media is a shaper of public opinion for the good or for the bad. In a recent article published in The Star in South Africa, reporters interviewed criminals who outlined what they planned to do to World Cup attendees. There was a huge uproar over whether or not the article should have been published because it fed on the fears of readers and dramatized the potential crime situation during the World Cup in South Africa. There was also the recent incident of a British firm advertising the sale of anti-crime vests for World Cup participants.
There are arguments on both sides of the coin for and against such content. However, I would add that there wouldn’t be much fodder if South Africa did not have the highest murder rate in the world, as well as high rates of violence and rape. There are legitimate concerns for safety that individuals, corporations, and nations face.
I don’t think there is a problem with reporting realities, but the question becomes whether the entire reality is being shown. For example, there are concerns over increased human trafficking around the World Cup in South Africa, but there were the same concerns at the World Cup in Germany in 2006. The fact that criminals intend to use a major event for illegal gain is not new. People should expect this to be the case and take recommended precautions.
Again, the issue seems to be not the reporting of realities, but the imbalance. In a 2009 report, “African Media and Investment,” survey participants still felt Western media propagated negative images of Africa and not enough of the positive. The reason they felt was that the “shock factor” sells.
C. Paschal Eze, a former journalist in Africa and author of “For Blacks (and Others) Who Really Care,” says that the Western media is not all to blame. In his interview (65) with West African Democracy Radio, Eze said that African media work alongside Western media to create this overarching negative image of Africa. Eze says that even African governments do not know how to share information about their countries to promote better images. It’s no wonder that Kenya hired a public relations firm last year.
So, a simple answer is more media promoting more balanced reporting in the complexity of global perception. SA Good News and Africa Good News are excellent examples to the gap in the media market. In the space of business media, documentaries Africa Open for Business and African Investment Horizons by Carol Pineau opened the world’s eyes to the positive side of business in Africa. Now, major news networks like MSNBC, CNBC, and BBC have followed suit.
But, the key question still remains. Is media currently propagating or pummeling business in Africa? Unfortunately, I would say it is more the latter than former. Since media is a strong influencer of public opinion, let each of us find his or her own way to change this paradigm.
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