Reporting Africa Seminar
Background
Problems of representing Africa in
African and Western media cannot be overemphasised....
"The Impression of Africa that
is given by the media to most people in the West, is
of a continent racked by brutal civil wars, ruled by
kleptocratic elites and riddled with corruption. True
as much of this information is, it gives no indication
of the fact that for millions of Africans in remote
villages their dominant concerns are the welfare of
their families and cohesion of their community"
(Stephen Carr 2004)
"Over the past thirty years there
has been a steady decline in the attention
Western media have given to reporting Africa. And the
end of the cold war has exacerbated this lack of interest.
When sub-Saharan Africa is covered in the news it is
uniformly [presented] as a tale of disaster and conflict.
There is rarely much context or background in the reports
(Susan Franks, 2005).
"In a six month period between
March and August 2000 the Trans Africa Forum in the
USA had counted 89 stories published by the New
York Times and Washington Post. Of the
89, 75 were negative, and 63 out of the 89 were about
conflict in Africa. What this statistic does is to potray
in a small way the massive problem of how Africa is
reported by the Western Media and which we, the African
media, sometimes reflect and amplify in our reporting
of the continent by mimicking the Western media "
(Baffour Ankoma 2008).
We at Progress Communication
and Media Consultants share these important
concerns and have decided to do something about them.
Reporting Africa is an enghlightening
and motivating interactive seminar specifically designed
to offer insightful solutions to problems associated
with reporting Africa. The seminar explores factors
that are known to have influnced reports about Africa
in African and Western media from pre-colonial times
to the present. More importantly, it uses this knowledge
to motivate media professionals to make a difference
in the way they represent Africa in areas such as politics,
health, agriculture, education, economy, science, etc.
Specific Objectives:
- To explore problems and prospects of representing
Africa in local and international media;
- To equip media practitioners with skills for representing
Africa positively in local and international media
without compromising professional media ethics and
the integrity of Africans.
Target Groups:
- Media practitioners such as reporters, announcers,
presenters, editors, producers, scriptwriters, actors,
analysts, proofreaders, etc, who want to make a difference
in the way they represent Africa in the media in areas
such as politics, health, agriculture, education,
economy, science, religion, etc.
- Media regulators
- Media trainers.
Topics:
- General theoretical perspectives of representation
- Problems and perspectives of representing Africa
in African and Western media
- Prospects and strategies of positive representation
of Africa in African and Western Media
Dates: Thursday 24th June
2011 (Formerly announced as 16th June 2011)
Time: 8:30am – 5:00pm
Venue: Blantyre - Multi-Country
Training Centre
Fees: K15, 000.00 (tuition, lunch,
refreshments)
Confirm your paticipation preferably by end of Tuedsay,
21st June 2011
Mode of Delivery
During the seminar, presenters will make theory-driven
but practice-oriented thought provoking power point
presentations on each of the the above topics after
which participants will debate issues that will have
been raised by the presentations. Participants will
also be given opportunity to practically critique a
selection of media texts containing stories about Africa
and Malawi to consolidate views discussed in the debates.
Presenters
Bright Molande
Bright Molande, a Senior Lecturer in
Literary Theory at University of Malawi's Chancellor
College, is an accomplished poet, book author, feature
writer, short story writer, cultural critic, and media
trainer widely known for his critical approach to social,
economic and cultural issues. Molande has given a few
brilliant interviews on local and international airwaves
while his feature articles have been published extensively
in the Malawian press. He also has extensive oral presentation
experience owing to numerous presentations which he
has made at workshops, seminars, public lectures, and
symposiums organised for students, academics, and media
practitioners locally and internationally over the years.
Currently, he is reading for a PhD at Essex University
in the United Kingdom.
Sydney F. Kankuzi
Sydney F. Kankuzi is Managing
Consultant of Progress Media and Communication Consultants.
He holds a Master of Arts in Cultural and Media
Studies from the University of KwaZulu Natal, a Bachelor
of Arts Honours in Cultural and Media Studies from the
University of Natal, and a Bachelor of Education (Humanities)
from University of Malawi. Currently, Kankuzi is a lecturer
in Media, Communication and Cultural Studies, and Program
Coordinator for BA Media for Development at University
of Malawi, Chancellor College in Zomba, Malawi. He has
been teaching for 13 years at Chancellor College where
he has also served as Head of Language and and Communication
Department several times and as, Deputy Dean of Humanities,
and Senator. Professionally, he is fascinated by media
representations of diverse kinds among other thought
provoking topics and themes.
Kankuzi has vast experience in delivering
oral presentations. For thirteen years he has been teaching
both undergraduate and postgraduate students presentation
skills for a wide variety of purposes including seminars.
In addition every year he is involved in planning, organising,
and delivering seminars, symposia, short courses and
workshops for students, academics, industry professionals,
and other groups.
Sydney Kankuzi's Publications and Reseach Record
Journal Articles:
Sydney F. Kankuzi (2005) “Putting Africa First: The
Making of African Innovation Systems” (Book Review)
Critical Arts: A Journal of South-North Cultural Studies,
Volume 19, Issue 1, 2005, pp. 206 – 207
Sydney F. Kankuzi, (2010) “Notes on the Contribution
of Linguistics to the Trans-disciplinarity of Cultural
Studies”. Journal of Humanities.Volume 22. pp. 187 -207
Completed Research Project:
A Freirean Postmotem of an Aborted Reform Process at
Malawi Broadcasting Corporation in the 1990s (Study
completed in 2010, manusript ready for publication)
Works in Progress
Book Chapters Submitted for Publication
Sydney F. Kankuzi. “Culture versus Economy in Advertising:
Can 1998 Employment Equity Act be Used as an Index for
Analysing Television Advertising Representations of
Work in South Africa?”
Sydney F. Kankuzi. “Theoretical Approaches to Understanding
Representations and the Language of Advertising”.
Research in Progress
Audience Perception of MBC Television News: A Case
Study of City of Zomba
Inquiries and Registration:
Cell: 0888 514 659
Email: info@pcmconsultants.com
Watch this page for seminar
updates!
Updated 13th June 2011 |
