The New York-based The Africa Center, narrative change organization, Africa No Filter, Media Monitoring Africa and the University of Cape Town (UCT) have resolved to develop the Global Media Index that will track and measure the way Africa is covered by top global media outlets.
The Index is important as one-third of all African stories in news outlets on the continent are sourced from foreign news services. Also, global media reports are often criticised for viewing the continent through the lenses of disease, poverty, conflict, corruption, and poor leadership.
The project seeks to establish the dominant themes, narratives and journalistic practices shaping the image of Africa.
The Global Media Index will put 20 leading global media platforms under the microscope to analyse how they tell Africa’s stories, whose voices are being heard, which topics are prioritised, and how they are covered. The Global Media Index will also highlight best practices in reporting on the continent.
Moky Makura, Executive Director of Africa No Filter, said that the Global Media Index is designed to show what is right, rather than wrong about media reports on Africa.
Makura said, “As storytellers to millions of audiences, the news media set agendas for policy-making, frame political debate and shape global public perceptions. There is progress, and we have seen evidence that global news outlets have become more thoughtful about their coverage, but we are not entirely there, and our hope is for this Index to shine a beacon on who is doing this right.”
In his contribution, Uzodinma Iweala, CEO of The Africa Center, described the Index as necessary and timely.
“If we are going to change narratives about the continent and its Diaspora so that they are more representative and reflective, we must have a baseline understanding of what those narratives are and where they reside. This Index is a step in the right direction. It will help to create a new qualitative and quantitative approach to understanding how journalists report on Africa and its people in addition to where the messages they share are most resonant in the international media landscape,” said Iweala.
The Global Media Index is the latest project funded jointly by Africa No Filter and The Africa Center focused on media narratives of Africa. The research will be led by Herman Wasserman, Professor in Media Studies at UCT’s Centre for Film and Media Studies, working with Associate Professors Tanja Bosch and Wallace Chuma and Dr Meli Ncube, also from UCT, in collaboration with William Bird from Media Monitoring Africa.
The Global Media Index will complement a suite of initiatives under Africa No Filter’s disruption pillar, including Africa’s first news agency for human interest stories, bird, and the ethical storytelling handbook, How to Write About Africa in 8 Steps.
The Global Media Index will be launched in 2022. For more information, please visit www.africanofilter.org.
