African journalists are struggling to find a unique=20 voice in the face of Western stereotypes and diverse=20 beliefs, writes Chris Louw
Kenyan journalist Charles Wachira walked around in the=20 streets of Harare last week, shaking his head in=20 disbelief. “I never knew an African state like this=20 existed,” he muttered. “Look at the roads, man. Not a=20 single pothole! And the cars are all brand new. I’m=20 shocked, man.”
Wachira was one of about 30 journalists from all over=20 the continent who gathered in Zimbabwe to take stock of=20 the state of journalism in Africa.
But finding a voice of its own for African journalism=20 to counter the “onslaught” of the American and European=20 media with their preconceptions, soon proved to be=20
Like Machira, most journalists found that Africa is=20 just too big, too diverse, and the countries too=20 isolated to be able to unanimously come up with=20 indiginous definitions for concepts like “democracy”=20 and “human rights”.
Most of the journalists were free-lancers, and almost=20 all were loosely related to the Inter Press Service=20 Third World News Agency (IPS), the fledgling=20 organisation which for the past three decades has been=20 trying bravely to give the South its own voice against=20 the overwhelming communications networks of the=20 Northern hemisphere.
The meeting was soon sobered by Dr Ibbo Mandaza,=20 editor-in-chief of the Harare-based Southern African=20 Political and Economic Magazine, who reminded delegates=20 that intra-regional trade in Africa amounted to a mere=20 four percent of all African trade.
Lambasting the northern countries for what he termed=20 their neo-colonial approach to Africa, Mandaza=20 maintained that all African countries were still forced=20 to earn foreign currency by exporting their raw=20 materials, thus undermining their industrial basis.
“We have a hostage economy, a subsidiary economy. There=20 is no African state — only a hostage state, a mimic=20 state; it is a farce, to say the least.”
Most newspapers on the continent, said Mandaza, were=20 forced to toe the line by governments who had little=20 room for political and economic manoeuvering and=20 consequently soon lost legitimacy.
One after the other the journalists confirmed what=20 Mandaza was saying: many of those present had been=20 detained or intimidated by their respective=20
Not only the Northern media was accused of being biased=20 against Africa. Zimbabwean feminist Dr Patricia=20 McFadden accused African journalists of being the main=20 culprits when it came to perpetuating stereotypes of=20 women. Women, she said, were seldom taken seriously by=20 African publications as public figures in their own=20
The difficulty faced in establishing commonly accepted=20 moral guidelines for African journalism was graphically=20 illustrated when delegates from Burkina Faso and Cote=20 d’Ivoire insisted that female circumcision, which is=20 still prevalent in their countries, was an acceptable=20
The issue of human rights, and more particularly gender=20 rights, led to a heated discussion. Female delegates=20 were up in arms, accusing men of perpetuating the=20 suppression of women.
The West African journalists stuck to their guns,=20 maintaining that female circumcision could not be=20 regarded an abuse of rights because so many women=20 supported this ritual.
But “politically correct” arguments also very often=20 stranded on the hard rock of African realities.=20
One example: Josephine Masimba, a Zimbabwean,=20 establishes herself as a firm feminist in the gender=20 debate. Later, she tells me of her experiences of=20 police in Harare. She was having supper with her sister=20 in a restaurant one evening and left to buy something=20 from a pharmacy around the corner. On her return she=20 was stopped by two policemen who accused her of=20
She was arrested and taken to a police station where=20 she was thrown into a cell. It was a Friday night and=20 she knew she would spend the weekend in jail if she did=20 not pay an admission of guilt fine. In the end she had=20 no option but to pay 50 Zimbabwean dollars. “According=20 to police records,” she says, “I am now a self- confessed prostitute.”
And while delegates complained about Northern media=20 stereotyping of Africa as impoverished and woeful, most=20 topics chosen by the delegates for discussion centred=20 on exactly the same issues: desertification, cattle=20 theft, the impact of the large-scale import of second- hand clothes on local economies …
At the end of the conference each delegate gave a short=20 account of the present political, social and economic=20 situation in his or her country.=20
Jean-Baptiste Kayigamba from Rwanda focused on the=20 genocide in his country. He has become cynical about=20 the destructive forces of ethnicism, and says that he=20 is an outsider in the country of his birth. A million=20 people killed in the past two years … the chairman=20 had to stop him — the delegates had only two minutes=20 to summarise the woes of their countries.
Yohannes Abdi from Ethiopia talked about the crisis in=20 neighbouring Somalia. Somalians are flowing into=20 Ethiopia in their thousands to flee starvation in their=20 own country, bringing with them poverty and social=20
Ethnicity has a kinder flavour in his region. Soon, he=20 says, Ethiopia will be divided in nine ethnic regions,=20 most of them semi-independent, “states on their own,”=20 according to Abdi.
Abdoulaye Gandema from Burkina Faso listened to what=20 everyone else had to say. In his country, if only 20=20 000 head of cattle were to be stolen, the economy would=20 grind to a halt. Like so many African countries, the=20 ‘Land of the Upright People’ is caught in the=20 humiliating grip of poverty.
From=20Nigeria, Remi Oyo complained about the pervasive=20 corruption; from Zambia, Joe Chilaizya said his people=20 are cynical about their democratically-elected rulers – – some people are even re-saddling old man Kenneth=20 Kaunda with their hopes for the future.
From=20Kenya, Charles Wachira tells of an opposition=20 party led by a white man, Richard Leakey. “The question=20 now is: do we want to be ruled by someone of our own=20 skin-colour who is not reliable, or do we prefer to be=20 ruled by a white Kenyan whose actions pass the test of=20
Almost everyone refers to fears about the economic=20 might of South Africa. Castle Lager is drunk all over=20 Africa now; South African businesspeople move into=20 Africa “very aggressively”. Fragile local industries=20 will just not be able to withstand the capitalist=20 onslaught from the south.
It is soon clear that Africa is a continent caught up=20 in woes. A journalist’s paradise, if you will.
The last word goes to a Zimbabwean receptionist.=20 Kenya’s Charles Wachira tells him one night: “Your=20 country really functions very effectively, man. You=20 must be sure not to let it go to the dogs.”
The receptionist, a mild-mannered, middle-aged Shona,=20 flashes an angry smile: “That’s where the country was,=20 Sir. But we took it back from the dogs.”