The New York-based The Africa Center, narrative change organisation Africa No Filter, Media Monitoring Africa and the University of Cape Town (UCT) have joined forces to develop the Global Media Index that will track and measure the way Africa is covered by top global media outlets.
The Global Media Index will put 20 leading global media platforms under the microscope to analyse how they tell Africa’s stories, whose voices are being heard, which topics are prioritised, and how they are covered. The Global Media Index will also highlight best practices in reporting on the continent.
The project will draw on a range of methods, including content analysis, institutional analysis and interviews with journalists working for global media outlets. The aim is to establish the dominant themes, narratives and journalistic practices shaping the image of Africa. The Index is important as one-third of all African stories in news outlets on the continent are sourced from foreign news services. Global media reports are often criticised for viewing the continent through the lenses of disease, poverty, conflict, corruption, and poor leadership.
The Global Media Index is the latest project funded jointly by Africa No Filter and The Africa Center focused on media narratives of Africa. The research will be led by Herman Wasserman, Professor in Media Studies at UCT’s Centre for Film and Media Studies, working with Associate Professors Tanja Bosch and Wallace Chuma and Dr Meli Ncube, also from UCT, in collaboration with William Bird from Media Monitoring Africa. Read more.