The Real Africa: You think you know but you have NO idea

Poor. Undeveloped. Famished. Dirty. AIDS stricken. Illiterate. These are a few words that describe the ways in which Western media has portrayed the state of Africa. Studies & surveys have proven that the media displays inaccurate portrayals of Africa and it's progress or success. In her article "The Africa You need to Know" Gbemisola Olujobi, a renown African journalist (who researches at USC's Annenberg) discusses the Africa that the media refuses to show. It is the Africa that we all need to know.

"Famine in Niger does not mean hunger in Nigeria." Viewers have no idea how to distinguish what is taking place in the various countries and cities within Africa. Africa provides the U.S. with significant resources that some people would never know. In fact, Algeria, Egypt, Libya and Nigeria are the major petroleum and natural gas producing countries in Africa (that's 20% of the world's petroleum needs). Fifty percent of the world's gold and diamonds are also produced in Africa.

However the negative portrayal of Africa in the media hurts their economy because they are perceived as useless and poor investments. For example she states in the article:

"The TransAfrica Forum, a body which aims to influence U.S. policy on Africa and the

diaspora, surveyed two of the most esteemed newspapers in the United States—The

New York Times and The Washington Post—between March and August 2000. Its study

showed that the vast majority of news stories fell within only three categories—AIDS,

development and conflict. The study found no reports on regional economic or political

cooperation in Africa, nor one article on the private sector. "

In truth, many countries within Africa have made significant progress and advancement over the past few years. For example in 2005 places of reform and structures built to fight corruption were established in various countries. Trade between China and Africa has trippled. Mozambique has reduced its poverty level by 20 percent and has doubled the number of children in school. Furthermore, Uganda has reduced HIV from 20 percent in 1991 to about 6.5 percent in 2001.

However, these are not the stories that readers see in headlines. The media has a way of supressing their success to make the U.S. seem powerful and invinicible compared to the weak, undeveloped Africa. If consumers were correctly aware of the cultural and economic progress of Africa, they would not perpetuate the cruel stereotypes.