Comments on: Peaceful elections just ain’t news – the dire state of world reporting on Africa

By: naomi zariah arieso

naomi zariah arieso — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:27:24 +0000

the simple fact is that the western is happy with what is going on in Kenya, Zimbabwe and the rest.
it time we Africans stand-up for ourselves and say enough to the violence and embrace peace. Africa is not a war zone.
i am proud to be a Ghanaian and above all an African.

By: Edward Boateng

Edward Boateng — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:37:17 +0000

Mr.Dave Lee,which tv news did u see them talking about the Ghana Elections.Is only on the BBC site.

By: Edward Boateng

Edward Boateng — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:35:26 +0000

Is all very sad…I have watched all the western media networks and haven’t seen anything about the peaceful ghana election that started on sunday the 7th of december 2008..Let them start violence and is on all the chanells.Meanwhile the coverage of this peaceful event won’t only put Ghana amongst the peaceful and civilised countries in the world but would help encourage investers to ghana which will create jobs but no,they would be happy to talk abt the war zone african countries makin a lot of people who don’t know much about africa think all Africa is about is killiing themselves.

By: Bischoff

Bischoff — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:49:34 +0000

I must admit I am slowly getting more and more disappointed at the coverage and interest from foreign medias. I mean, we keep getting reports and articles about the terrible state of Zimbabwe, the fighting in Congo, the corruption in Nigeria. An unknown number of experts are called in to comment on the “recent developments” and discussing how to solve issues and make “the African lives better”. Then! We have an election going on – an election taking place in one of the most peaceful countries in Africa, a true flagship of democracy in Africa, and we don’t hear a single word. I do, unfortunately, understand that this do not sell as much as blood, but still – why do we absolutely have to maintain this picture of Africa as the “homeland of barbarism”? By looking at Ghana, we see that democracy have a place in Africa too.

By: Tracy

Tracy — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:51:49 +0000

As a Yank (African-American Female), I too like the BBC but am more partial to CNN (American and International editions). On Sunday, I watched the news thorougout the day and did not see one bit of information about the Ghanaian elections. I even went to CNN.com today to make sure I hadn’t missed anything and guess what? The author is correct. It does seem that only negative news gets reported from the Motherland! This does not go unnoticed by people of the Diaspora; we have these conversations among ourselves all of the time. I hope there will be an all-Africa News organization someday. By God’s grace, I would find a way to invest in it; so, Salim Amin, do not give up on your/our dream!!!!

By: …My heart’s in Accra » Good news is no news?

…My heart’s in Accra » Good news is no news? — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:03:29 +0000

[...] mainstream press attention to the elections. (I’ve made the same complaint in earlier posts.) Judith Townend quotes a commenter on Facebook who was disappointed that the quiet, peaceful and smooth voting got so little attention: I was [...]

By: Judith Townend

Judith Townend — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 15:15:56 +0000

Yes, initially I was impressed by BBC coverage and then took a step backwards, and thought that no, that’s only in comparison to some of the other networks and news sites (which didn’t take much).

Dave, you say that people going to a poll is uneventful. True, but we seem to wring enough out of that when it comes to elections in other peaceful places, and there’s been very, very little comment on Ghanaian results coming in now, which is news surely.

At time of writing there’s nothing on the TimesOnline world page, a small piece buried on the Telegraph.co.uk world page, nothing on the Guardian world page, nothing on the Independent.co.uk world page.

The Kenyan elections were bloody, and it took that to get the world’s attention.
The point is that European elections for countries of equal size to Ghana (I admit that US elections are another case entirely) don’t need to be violent to get coverage.

By: Dave Lee

Dave Lee — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:19:45 +0000

I’m not sure I agree. I watched TV news briefly yesterday and I caught two reports of the Ghana elections. One was in the morning as people went to the polls, the other in the evening as a retrospective piece on the day.

People going to a poll is a newsworthy but, in some ways, rather uneventful. Sadly, a big fight kicking off at polling stations is more newsworthy — not because journalists are looking for the shock factor, just simply because it’s important.

Then again — I see no mention of the elections in today’s Guardian, so perhaps you’re right. Tough one to call.