Elections in Africa: BBC, CNN in the dock

Covering Zimbabwe

"BBC covers African elections in an interesting way. We are told that President Mugabe is the source of Zimbabwe's problems because he grabbed land from white farmers and was implicated in the economic decline and hyperinflation, among others.

"But, we are not told how Zimbabwe got to the state it is now in," Shepherd Mpofu, of Wits University's Department of Media Studies, said yesterday, Tuesday, 12 October 2010, in Braamfontein.

"Mugabe was made in Zimbabwe but perfected in the west," Mpofu recounted. If the BBC historicised the events, it would have helped expose the formation of the rapture of the 'elite cohesion' between Mugabe and western governments," he emphasised.

"My main argument is that as much as journalism is not about covering history, however I believe that the historicisation of issues is important, and addressing historical issues could underpin the truth of what is affecting a certain country.

Shoddy international coverage

"Journalists should not just cover elections and leave, but also play a critical role in contextualising issues. BBC made Mugabe look like the villain and MDC as the victim."

Western media's shoddy and biased coverage of the African continent has long been the talking point in many African intellectual circles, with local commentators severely reprimanding western news outlets for overlooking history, truth and realities and instead focusing on the superficial.

Mpofu's colleague, Last Moyo, also of Wits' Department of Media Studies, said all the global news networks have the responsibility to be the voice of all the voiceless wherever they are found.

Journalism and history

He said: "History is not away from journalism, but part and parcel of journalism. CNN's view of Africa is very euro-centric, and the way they cover issues and elections affect the understanding of audiences.

"CNN pretends to be a global media network, whereas it is only a trans-national news organisation that produces news in a stereotypical way that always portrays Africa as a place of unending ethnic violence and instability."

Moyo also said Zimbabwe always wanted to embrace the socialism rhetoric because it wanted to link it with distribution of justice, land and education, which he said did not happen.

"We are looking at the situation whereby African countries want to do away with decolonisation without necessarily losing the plot of democracy and development."

But, that is something western media will not entertain, according to some observers.

Personalisation of Mugabe

"During the run-up of the 2008 elections, CNN spent much time about the personalisation of Mugabe, framing the issue the same way all western media use to cover Africa," Moyo said. "That is very distortive. And using that frame is difficult for audiences to understand why Mugabe took the land away from white farmers.

"CNN can be a real global media player if it can move away from euro-centrism to policy-centrism, meaning looking at things from within the context and looking at players as objects not subjects," Moyo said.

Moyo's main argument was that CNN's news frames on African elections, including Zimbabwe's, are episodic, simplistic and lacking contextual grounding, stating that foreign media's role in covering Africa is very suspect and alienating.

Mpofu added: "Parachuting journalists to come and cover Africa doesn't work. I suggest they employ local journalists, and there are lot of them around."