Quick question: what do these titles have in common? A Dark Continent Seeking Light; Sure, Ebola is Bad. Africa has Worse, or; Magic and Cannibalism in the African Jungle. You guessed it – they’re all about Africa. But the most correct answer is they’re all headlines that have appeared in the prestigious New York Times newspaper.
They’re just some examples of the ways that many traditional news outlets in the west have historically reported about Africa. Today news reporting that reinforces negative perceptions, stereotyping and racial misrepresentation is declining. But the harms inflicted on the continent and its communities remain unresolved.
