Is one of the unintended consequences of the work of western-based non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) that their influence means that the media gives too much attention to bad news out of Africa? That is the brunt of Karen Rothmyer’s article, “Hiding the Real Africa” in the latest Columbia Journalism Review. (By the way — when will journalists and their editors get over this idea that there IS a “real Africa”?)
The argument seems a bit reductionist. My guess is that both the “if it bleeds it leads” culture of journalism and the barely-visible place of Africa, and especially sub-Saharan Africa, in the public debate means that negative stories would still dominate absent the interests of NGOs. But Rothmyer’s piece raises important questions about why people think the way they do about the continent and rather than simply finger the NGO’s she places much of the blame on journalists themselves.
