It is time to make the African Media Count.

In the current world, perception is the new reality. It is for no other reason that Hollywood exists. Therefore, the battle for the hearts and minds of the world occurs in our living rooms, through the TV sets, and in our bedrooms. There is no doubt that in the international media, Africa is known as a place of war, disease, and poverty. Its a stereotype that Africa has tried to break from to no avail. How then can the media in Africa remedy this situation. How can African media ensure that there are as much positive stories as there are negative stories from Africa? It would be important to note that there is no one 'African View' to begin with. There is no single broadcaster that projects the voice of Africa to the rest of the world. The African media is disjointed, and this presents serious challenges to the oneness of Africa.

What's more, when an African wants to get news about another African country, they will most likely get it from CNN, BBC, France 24, or any of the international media stations. A Nigerian for example, could only hear of negative stories about Uganda from the international media, and this further reinforces her view that there is nothing good that is happening in Africa. The international media has not always been free, fair, and objective in its pursuit of what to report from Africa.

Many media houses are now making a handsome profit, and it behoves the media organizations in Africa to at least send reporters to the concerned African countries. This way, African media will at least be able to take charge of the whole flow of news and information from Africa.
It is true that Africa is a place of such contrasting narratives. There is the Africa that is growing, and is home to six of the ten fastest growing economies in the world. This is an Africa in which the number of middle class
is rising, and fueling consumer trends in the continent. This is an Africa in which seven elections conducted last year were peaceful. This is an Africa where mobile money transfer is leading the rest of the world. In effect, this is what is fueling the 'Africa Rising' narrative. On the other hand, there is an Africa which is still affected by war, disease, and poverty. This is an Africa in which strife and election violence are still felt. There is the all too recent coup in Burkina Faso. There is the instability in South Sudan, as well as in Mali and the Gambia. Unfortunately, the media in the West, and increasingly in Africa, only focuses on the second part, leaving out the first part of positive stories. It is time that the media in Africa and international media too adopted a whole new narrative for Africa.