Intra-Africa arts reporting: whose agenda is it?

“This is due to language barrier, geographical dimension and colonial proximity,” Telesphore Mba Bizo, a Cameroonian arts reporter, said.

According to Bizo, arts journalists from English-speaking countries tend to report more about English-speaking artists, and the same applies for French-speaking journalists who care less about artists not speaking French, while Portuguese-speaking journalists focus mainly on their Portuguese-speaking counterparts.

In the process, it becomes difficult to appreciate each other's work, love and message. And that widens the divide between people from different parts of Africa, fuelling xenophobia and hate and undermining Africa's immense art talent.

“It is high time that our profession moves beyond the language, colonial and geographical dimensions in order to disseminate objective information to wider audiences wherever they are,” Bizo advised.

Networking, tolerance, ongoing training, mutual respect and capacity building need to be reinforced if the standards of arts reporting are to rise.

South African singing star Sibongile Khumalo said African artists need African audiences, blaming less exposure for the lack of adequate reporting in African arts.

“We need a lot of exposure and open ourselves to other people and audiences, and keep our minds open about what is happening in other parts of Africa if the African dream is to be realised,” she said.

“Music needs to be heard, not just be heard but also appreciated. Others need to hear us, know us and understand who we are and what we are saying so that we can start being less fearful and less defensive.

Khumalo deplored difficulties in travelling on the continent, saying that limits Africans to know and network each other, and calling on governments to do more to solve that problem.

SA art writer and researcher Sello Galane said: “Print media is so obsessed with gossips to such an extent that they forget to write about good hard-working artists who have families and behave decently,” Galane said.

“Who taught you that good news don't sell? And whose agenda is that and what perspective and approach are you taking in your reportage, and for what ends?” Galane asked.

“We need reporting that demystifies the colonial agenda and need to cut ties with the colonial literature that has a colonial discourse. We are climbing in a bandwagon that is not ours!”

John Owoo, a freelance journalist from Ghana, said there is a lot of disparities in arts reporting in Africa.

“Many African arts stories remain untold and sidelined due to African journalists' obsession with global entertainment, including news from US and Europe.

“Nowadays it is safer to get a story from a press release than bring out a thought-provoking art feature,” Owoo said, blaming lack of training for the problem.