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Africa: Global Media Takes a New Look At Continent

Glenda Daniels

22 May 2008

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Johannesburg — THERE is unprecedented interest in Africa today but the trend is changing from the gloom and doom stereotype to a focus on expanding investment potential on the continent, says Barry Moody, head of Reuters in Africa.

"But old perceptions have not disappeared completely and investors are aware of the dangers that are lurking," he said at the International Media Forum SA in Johannesburg yesterday. The aim of the conference is to discuss international coverage of SA.

Reuters is interested, for example, in stories on the potential of oil in Nigeria, China and India's interest in Africa, tea in Malawi, coffee in Kenya, investment in transport in the Democratic Republic of Congo and fishing in Mauritius .

All international editors agreed the xenophobic attacks in SA were making international news and in some cases front-page headlines.

Moody said that while some stories looked like political stories, in fact, they were important because of the economic effect. "International journalists find being in Africa fascinating because of the volatility here, things change so quickly. For example, Kenya was regarded as stable and then suddenly this changed during the election."

The top South African stories that would be covered in the international media this year would be on the theme of power, head of BBC Africa Joseph Warungu told the conference: "Power and the ballot, power and energy and powerful tummy pains due to hunger and poverty. We will be watching SA and how it responds."

BBC Africa has 25-million listeners in Africa. The BBC conducts news, he said, using evidence, independence and transparency; and reportage, eye witness accounts and a diversity of views, particularly those of ordinary people, are important .

Warungu said as the world experienced increasing inflation and as Africa got hungrier with the growing food crisis, the BBC would be watching SA to see if it could be an example for other countries.

Responding to The New York Times and CNN bureau chiefs' allegations that government communication was weak, with calls often being ignored, the Government Communication and Information System's Harold Maloka said the government was trying to ensure smooth communications with the media, "but most of the time we call you and you don't respond", adding that for most news items "the bush" was used as a backdrop for African coverage. "It's quite disturbing. We do want to work with you."

The Wall Street Journal's Africa bureau chief, Chip Cummins, said: "My experience in the Middle East and Africa is that people don't take your calls." But there was huge interest in Africa, he said . His job was to find out what the Journal's 2- million subscribers were looking for. "And it's anything on Africa. They want to inform themselves not just about financial insider information but they also want business journalism that will touch people's hearts and tell stories about people."

There had been a huge growth spurt in Africa and especially in southern Africa, he said, which hadn't happened for the past three decades. "It's early days yet and similar growth spurts have not been sustained in the past. The big interest now is oil and Africa has emerged as the most exciting new frontier."

He said while there might not be oil in SA , Jo'burg was home to Africa's most sophisticated financial markets. "So you come here first whether you are investing in Nigeria or in another part of Africa."

The conference finishes today.

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