As the world celebrated Africa Day, one journalism scholar was deeply pondering the fate of the continent. In particular, he thought about the storytellers. Who is telling Africa’s story and how is the narrative shaped?
Assistant Professor of Communications at the American University of Nigeria, Dr. Last Moyo gave a presentation at the Africa Center for the Study of the US, Witwatersrand University, South Africa on Wednesday, May 26, 2021.
His topic: From Modernization to Decolonization: Directions and Indirections for Journalism Development in Africa is an exposition about the influence of Africa’s colonial history on the media landscape.
“Do we have African journalism or just journalists practicing their craft in Africa?”
Dr. Moyo’s rhetorical question points the bull’s eye on the western education system, and news focusing on aloof values such as the unusual, oddity, conflict, etc.
He believes, in a developing continent the focus should instead be aligned with pertinent values such as cultural impact, context, and humanity. For Africa, Dr. Moyo makes an impassioned case for the cultural value of news.
The media and by implication the news shapes our worldview and cultural consciousness. What Africans know about themselves and others is largely influenced by media portrayals and representation.
Dr. Moyo proposes African journalism be focused on telling realistic stories not just the Africa of disease and poverty but a continent rich in natural resources. He highlighted the need to shift the paradigm of African media partnerships to be on equal footing with imperial powers.
In the context of the global geopolitical space, by their very nature, media collaborations have an unequal balance of power. “If we look at the development of journalism in Africa within the context of international partnerships, invariably we have to consider the fact that partnerships by their very nature are shaped by the prevailing, dominant, and hegemonic geopolitical power, that seems to advance its material and ideological interest and values.”
“If we accept the asymmetrical relations, what framework can we use to conceptualize, theorize and contextualize the US-Africa relations. How do we conceptualize journalism as a mode of self-writing in Africa.”
“The paradigm has to be shifted to trans-epistemic intercultural dialogue about social shaping and cultural modeling.” This means that journalism will not only enrich democracy and expose corruption, but will also align with the African worldview, cultures, and sensibilities.
For the rebirth of African journalism, the epistemic center must be situated in Africa. “Africa needs transformative power, Africa needs the freedom to think and write what we want to write. Culture is where knowledge is inscribed. We need to shift the paradigm of future African partnerships to be on equal footing with partners and not a perpetual teacher-student balance of power“ Said Dr. Moyo.
When Africa’s stories are culturally defined by Africans then the epistemic center must be focused on Afrocentrism. This Africa-centered model re-humanizes Africans. It is journalism that focuses on real issues such as gender parity, race relations, and social justice in a transformative way, in a way that does not blame the victim and is aimed at liberating Africa.
“We need to develop active alternative journalism models and practices. To shift journalism from a neo-liberal pedestal to decolonized value systems. “Yes, Journalism is a craft but the emphasis is that it must be culturally and socially shaped. If we don’t have African journalism, what new thinking do we need to give Africa agency? The African agency can only be born out of cultural translation which is more contextualized in terms of questioning a higher ranking of knowledge and adaptions from other cultures.” Dr. Moyo explained.
Professor Franz Kruger, Head of Journalism at Wits University also spoke about Africa’s unique context. “I often hear people say digital disruptions have impacted the world’s newsrooms but that does not apply to the media context in Africa which is very different. The commercial model is not well established in Africa.”
Professor Krüger has a vantage point having worked in professional journalism for many decades, including in the anti-apartheid alternative media and as a senior member of the first post-apartheid editorial management team at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC ). He also gave a presentation at the conference shedding light on the importance of language and meaning.
Language features prominently in journalism. “One problem with African journalism is literal translation. Literal translation does not work in the case of Africa. African agency can only be born out of cultural translation which is more contextualized. Adaptations of practices from other cultures even in terms of addressing hierarchies of knowledge must be based on this assumption.” Said Dr. Moyo.
Associate Professor of Digital Storytelling in the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University, Imani M. Cheers gave a chronological overview of media portrayals of Africa in the United States. “Historically, the US-centered mass media focused on enduring stereotypes. but post-colonial independence has ushered in new ideas and coverage. The exciting notion is where things are headed.”
“It is sometimes thought that African journalists can only learn from US journalists, I rebuke that narrative. African journalists have insight and wisdom on a variety of topics and areas of expertise that US journalists can and should learn from. How can more African journalists share their knowledge? Social media, mobile storytelling are the future of journalism, embrace, engage and entertain! African content creators are leading in a digital space in ways the rest of the world should be following, so creative and inspiring for example Tik Tok! The content coming from Africa is amazing.” Dr. Cheers Said.
Her research focuses on the intersection of women/girls, technology, health, conflict, agriculture, and the effects of climate change in sub-Saharan Africa. “As we look forward to the collaboration between the US and Africa we should learn from each other to better support one another. This will strengthen the relationship.”She said.
As the conference neared its end, Dr. Moyo’s closing remarks focused on the solutions to the problem of telling the African story. “The problem of journalism in Africa is not technology and money not even partnership. Instead of looking for solutions within, we invest in looking for a solution from outside, in doing so we tend to overlook the imperial relations that we’ve had with some of the superpowers. The imperial relations don’t just define the past but also the future and the solution for Africa is to subscribe to the cognitive empires of the mind.”
The development of journalism in Africa has indeed come a long way. Within the context of partnerships, collaborations by their very nature are shaped by dominant power structures which seek to advance material and ideological interests and values. Partnerships do not happen in the context of equality rather they happen in the context of dominance and subordination. This is why Africans must tell their own stories.
Reported by Amina Yuguda