BBC's news coverage on Africa

Berhanu Kassayie PhD

Feb 2 2011

The 16th Ordinary Session of the African Union was held Addis Ababa, Ethiopia starting 31/1/2011. This was a summit where African leaders with their international counterparts including the UN's Ban Ki-moon, President Sarkozy and others deliberated on important issues and the summit ended adopting a series of decisions and declarations concerning Africa's development, peace and security. Important continental and international announcements were also made at this summit, including the United Nations celebrating the establishment its new agency- UN Women.

Would the BBC cover any of these or the summit? Zilch, no mention of it at all any where! I am not surprised for this is not the first time for BBC, especially on news developments which put Africa or an individual African country in positive light. In a way this may not matter, the World has a number of alternative sources and, other than for the some who are middle-aged, it will have little or no effect. When it comes to Africa, why does the BBC interest itself almost exclusively on news with a ‘negative’ content? To add one more example, in September 2007, when Ethiopia celebrated entering its third millennium, the BBC coverage on its website (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/7163446.stm) was literally a denigrating statement akin to‘hey what is this colorful celebration, what unique culture of your own? … a poor country…with street children…? Over my dead body!’.

I just wonder what fuels and perpetuates such a twisted perspective within BBC the institution.

Berhanu Kassayie PhD
London