How the [Western] Media Portrays Africa, China, and India Differently

I recently had the pleasure of listening to a fascinating presentation in my Introduction to International Relations class. The professor showed the class pictures what one family in a variety of different countries ate during the duration of a week. The pictures came from the book Hungry Planet, by Peter Menzel. Time Magazine published a series of excerpts (part one and part two) of these pictures.

It was quite interesting to see the typical weekly meal of one family in several countries, ranging from Japan to Germany. The American photo, unfortunately, was the picture-perfect stereotype of over-consuming pre-prepared food (rather than real food).

There was something else that caught my eye, however, as the presentation went on. Like many people, I looked forward to seeing the typical weekly meal of a family in China and a family in India.

Here is India:



This is, needless to say, not a typical family in India. In one of the most crowded countries in the world, this Indian family is the proud owner of an entire house. It looks to be a very nice and well-maintained house as well.

Just by looking at the photo, it’s pretty clear that this Indian family is far and above better off than most Indian families. It’s not very representative of India.

Here’s China:



Again, there’s a big surprise here. This Chinese family has somehow managed the trick of having two children. The family also appears to live in a pristine apartment which is definitely not working-class.

It probably requires a lot of money or connections to have more than one child in China. That means that the family pictured here, just like the Indian family pictured, is very unrepresentative of the typical Chinese family. Both families are much wealthier than the typical citizens of their countries.

What’s the point of this?

Well, here’s a picture of a family in Chad:



This is the stereotypical “starving” African family. The food is obviously not enough for the six people in the picture.

There are two pictures of sub-Saharan African families in the entire photo set – and the other photo also fits the stereotype to a tee.

But this family is very definitely not a typical family in Chad. The family here is living in a refugee camp for Darfur refugees, called the Breidjing Camp. Most Chadians do not live in refugee camps. The family pictured here is probably in the poorest ten percent of Chad’s society. It’s not very representative of Chad.

What you may not know is that Africa’s GDP per capita is actually higher than India’s GDP per capita. There’s an argument to be made that Africans actually live better than Indians.

Yet the African family pictured is chronically short of food, while the Indian family (with their comfortable house) obviously belongs to the country’s elite. So does the Chinese family with its multiple kids.


The Point

China, India, and Africa are not nice places. There are hundreds of millions of very very poor people in all three areas.

Yet, as this picture-album perfectly shows, the portrayals of these three civilizations couldn’t be more different. The media always shows India and China as making great progress. China and India are on the path to the good life. Thus the elite families portrayed in this album.

Africa, on the other hand, is perpetually portrayed as an impoverished wasteland. Dictators, starvation, war – it’s hell. Supposedly. The impoverished Chadian and Malian families in Peter Menzel’s pictures are great examples of this theme.

What would the world be like if the media showed impoverished Indian and Chinese peasants all the time? What would the world be like if the media showed rich and wealthy Africans, rather than starving war refugees, all the time? It’s certainly possible to do. There are more than a billion poor peasants to pick in China and India. Africa has plenty of rich people. But somehow I feel that this won’t happen anytime soon.

http://my.firedoglake.com/inoljt/2012/08/11/how-the-media-portrays-africa-china-and-india-differently/

Just sad the powerful effect this kind of propaganda reflects.

I was in Italy recently(Florence & Bologna) specifically and I kept wondering to myself why on planet earth we are made to believe these folks are better than us. My life(economically) is better in Nigeria than probably 80% of Italians. Yes they have better infrastructure, security and access to public icicles amenities, but on a person one on one level in my house I live better than a large chunk of Europeans and I can bet 20% of Nigerians can proudly attest to that.

Yes there are poor Nigerianss and very plenty but surely not as many as they want it to look.

If we don't always go cap in hand begging for aids from the Western nations, they wouldn't portray us this way.

For me, this isn't a problem whatsoever. Hold your governments responsible for whatever insults we get from those guys. Remember, you never get what you didn't bargain for.

India is a shith0le when compared to virtually any other place on earth.

A pet anywhere else on the planet is a delicacy in China.

Africa has an acute food shortage but it does not mean we are all starving and the fact remains African diet in most cases is more healthy and nutritious than any other culture and it can be seen in our physique.

Are they wrong?

Iroh88:
If we don't always go cap in hand begging for aids from the Western nations, they wouldn't portray us this way.

For me, this isn't a problem whatsoever. Hold your governments responsible for whatever insults we get from those guys. Remember, you never get what you didn't bargain for.

India and China are recipients of western 'aid' too, so your excuse for being dehumanized holds no water.

mumumugu:
Are they wrong?

Dunce. So show us a pic of yourself and family in your refugee tent with your food scattered on the dusty ground, since they're not wrong. Or aren't you an African?

my brother wake up, they just hate you, they know you are rich naturally so they have to brain wash you into thinking you are poor so they can keep stealing from you, wake up

Iroh88:
If we don't always go cap in hand begging for aids from the Western nations, they wouldn't portray us this way.

For me, this isn't a problem whatsoever. Hold your governments responsible for whatever insults we get from those guys. Remember, you never get what you didn't bargain for.

What annoys me the most is this, They refer to Africa more like a country than a continent, India is one country, so is China; The situation in Chad can not be the same as the situation in South Africa, Egypt or even Nigeria, As the poster rightly pointed out, that is a refugee camp for goodness sake not a normal home.
Have anyone watched documentaries on poor Indians?, They look even worse than their African counterparts.

What they don't want the world to see...


..............................

Er, check the progress both China and India have made, and compare that to Africa.

Image represents progress and power.

That's the reason for the image. Once you stop supporting inept and corrupt leaders like GEJ, Nigeria might get there in the next generation. But definitely not this one.

ROSSIKE:
What they don't want the world to see...


..............................

To hell with them then.

SirShymex:
Er, check the progress both China and India have made, and compare that to Africa.

Image represents progress and power.

That's the reason for the image. Once you stop supporting inept and corrupt leaders like GEJ, Nigeria might get there in the next generation. But definitely not this one.

Africa has made progress too Mr Man. Despite your wretched BBC blanking it all out.



The world's fastest-growing middle class

Investor and philanthropist George Soros has described it as 'one of the few bright spots on the gloomy global economic horizon'.

China’s latest GDP forecast? Growth from one of the Asian tiger economies, maybe?

No. Soros is talking about Africa. It's a continent wracked by poverty, where electricity is intermittent, where corruption soaks up development funding, where political instability and tyrannical governments undermine confidence, and where kidnapping of Westerners is rife. Or, at least that's been the stereotypical image of African countries till now among Western investors. The Chinese have invested in Africa's natural resource extraction for more than a decade, but it is only more recently that other international investors are waking up to the potential from Africa's imminent boom in consumer spending, which is set to rise from USD 860 billion in 2008 to USD 1.4 trillion in 2020, according to the McKinsey Global Institute.

Growth in business technology across the continent is leading the way.

The International Civil Aviation Organization expects Africans to fly 8.3% more miles in 2012, making the continent one of the fastest-growing markets for air travel behind Asia and the Middle East.

New five-star hotels are being constructed: currently 10 in Lagos, Nigeria, alone. Prices for apartments in fashionable districts of Lagos match those of Western cities.

Growth in extraction of natural resources is shown by British Gas’ development along the coast of Tanzania, which is expected to be as large as its extraction along the coast of Qatar.

Analysts say the rate of return on foreign investment in Africa is higher than in any other developing region. Over the last decade, six of the world’s 10 fastest-growing countries were African. In eight of the last 10 years, Africa’s lion states have grown faster than the Asian tigers. The fastest-growing economy in the world in 2011 (at 13%) was Ghana.

As a result, Africa now has the fastest-growing middle class in the world. Some 313 million people, 34% of Africa’s population, spend USD 2.20 a day, a 100% rise in less than 20 years, according to the African Development Bank.

http://www.uhy.com/the-worlds-fastest-growing-middle-class/

ROSSIKE:

Africa has made progress too Mr Man.

The world's fastest-growing middle class

Investor and philanthropist George Soros has described it as 'one of the few bright spots on the gloomy global economic horizon'.

China’s latest GDP forecast? Growth from one of the Asian tiger economies, maybe?

No. Soros is talking about Africa. It's a continent wracked by poverty, where electricity is intermittent, where corruption soaks up development funding, where political instability and tyrannical governments undermine confidence, and where kidnapping of Westerners is rife. Or, at least that's been the stereotypical image of African countries till now among Western investors. The Chinese have invested in Africa's natural resource extraction for more than a decade, but it is only more recently that other international investors are waking up to the potential from Africa's imminent boom in consumer spending, which is set to rise from USD 860 billion in 2008 to USD 1.4 trillion in 2020, according to the McKinsey Global Institute.

Growth in business technology across the continent is leading the way.

The International Civil Aviation Organization expects Africans to fly 8.3% more miles in 2012, making the continent one of the fastest-growing markets for air travel behind Asia and the Middle East.

New five-star hotels are being constructed: currently 10 in Lagos, Nigeria, alone. Prices for apartments in fashionable districts of Lagos match those of Western cities.

Growth in extraction of natural resources is shown by British Gas’ development along the coast of Tanzania, which is expected to be as large as its extraction along the coast of Qatar.

Analysts say the rate of return on foreign investment in Africa is higher than in any other developing region. Over the last decade, six of the world’s 10 fastest-growing countries were African. In eight of the last 10 years, Africa’s lion states have grown faster than the Asian tigers. The fastest-growing economy in the world in 2011 (at 13%) was Ghana.

As a result, Africa now has the fastest-growing middle class in the world. Some 313 million people, 34% of Africa’s population, spend USD 2.20 a day, a 100% rise in less than 20 years, according to the African Development Bank.

http://www.uhy.com/the-worlds-fastest-growing-middle-class/

Er, I wasn't alluding to superficial and inconsequential progress.

Progress that comes with power play in international politics. You know - like technological advancement, industrialisation, strong military, very high GDP, political stability, etc.

ROSSIKE:

The Point

China, India, and Africa are not nice places. There are hundreds of millions of very very poor people in all three areas.

Yet, as this picture-album perfectly shows, the portrayals of these three civilizations couldn’t be more different. The media always shows India and China as making great progress. China and India are on the path to the good life. Thus the elite families portrayed in this album.

Africa, on the other hand, is perpetually portrayed as an impoverished wasteland. Dictators, starvation, war – it’s hell. Supposedly. The impoverished Chadian and Malian families in Peter Menzel’s pictures are great examples of this theme.

What would the world be like if the media showed impoverished Indian and Chinese peasants all the time? What would the world be like if the media showed rich and wealthy Africans, rather than starving war refugees, all the time? It’s certainly possible to do. There are more than a billion poor peasants to pick in China and India. Africa has plenty of rich people. But somehow I feel that this won’t happen anytime soon.

It is African medias and African journalists who should show what is good in Africa. We should stop giving importance to western medias. If the west portray Africa as a perpetually impoverished wasteland, this is an opportunity for Africans to create and develop more and more quality medias and show to the world that Africa is growing very fast.

Africa’s middle-class boom is real, study shows – and it’s gaining speed

GEOFFREY YORK

JOHANNESBURG — The Globe and Mail

Published Tuesday, Aug. 19 2014


The rise in Africa’s middle class has been over-hyped in recent years, but it is still a genuine phenomenon that is generating huge commercial and political opportunities, a new study says.

The analysis released on Tuesday by Standard Bank, a South African bank with operations across Africa, estimates that the African middle class has tripled in size over the past 14 years – and the boom is gathering speed.

The study analyzed 11 of the biggest economies in the region, accounting for about half of sub-Saharan Africa’s population and GDP. Those economies have grown tenfold since 2000, reaching a collective GDP of more than $1-trillion today, compared with a growth of just 25 per cent between 1990 and 2000.

Using a more rigorous definition of “middle class,” the study concludes that earlier estimates were much exaggerated. But it still finds dramatic growth, from about 4.6 million households in 2000 to almost 15 million households today in the 11 focal countries, if the middle class and lower-middle-class categories are both included.

Over the next 15 years, this growth will continue to gain momentum, and a further 25 million households will become middle class and lower-middle-class households in those 11 countries, the study forecasts.

It says Nigeria is by far the biggest source of the new middle class in Africa, while several East African countries are lagging.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/african-and-mideast-business/africas-middle-class-boom-is-real-study-shows-and-its-gaining-speed/article20127909/

SirShymex:


Er, I wasn't alluding to superficial and inconsequential progress.

Progress that comes with power play in international politics. You know - like technological advancement, industrialisation, strong military, very high GDP, political stability, etc.

But all of Africa cannot show the same indices for the above. Africa has 52 countries. Some are more stable than others. Some are more industrialised than others. Some have higher GDPs than others etc etc. So to reduce the continent to some shanty refugee tent in Chad is way out of line, and you know it. And there is nothing superficial or inconsequential about Africa's growing middle classes. It means poverty is falling. Is that inconsequential? Nope. I think it's the most important statistic of all.

ROSSIKE:


But all of Africa cannot show the same indices for the above. Africa has 52 countries. Some are more stable than others. Some are more industrialised than others. Some have higher GDPs than others etc etc. So to reduce the continent to some shanty tent in Chad is way out of line, and you know it.

Well, Sub Saharan Africa has always been viewed as one, outside of Africa. And since Africa has no say in anything, esp international politics, and it is still being fed like an infant all the time - that's the image you'll always get.

A country like Nigeria, with its huge population, needs to make a leap, and drag the rest up - for the image to change. Without that, you'll have to live with the image.

Horus:


It is African medias and African journalists who should show what is good in Africa. We should stop giving importance to western medias. If the west portray Africa as a perpetually impoverished wasteland, this is an opportunity for Africans to create and develop more and more quality medias and show to the world that Africa is growing very fast.

I think that is happening to an extent. There are a few Africa-focused international TV channels these days... Nollywood has also changed a lot of impressions i dare say. I have Jamaican friends who say they never knew we had proper houses in Africa until they saw a Nollywood movie.

SirShymex:


Well, Sub Saharan Africa has always been viewed as one, outside of Africa. And since Africa has no say in anything, esp international politics, and it is still being fed like an infant all the time - that's the image you'll always get.

A country like Nigeria, with its huge population, needs to make a leap, and drag the rest up - for the image to change. Without that, you'll have to live with the image.

I honestly don't think anything we do in Africa will lead to a revised western portrayal of the continent. Their portrayal is deliberately negative. It is not negative because they can't find positives to report. So the growth of positives will probably lead to even more negative reporting, a bit like how the rise of Obama in the US led to an increase in white racism. They don't want us to improve. Can't you get it? They actually need us to be the bad ''Other'' against which they can juxtapose their own perceived 'goodness'. It's a psychological need for them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFDPL0fNOWY

[size=15pt]Real Black African Country[/size]

Only the love of self will liberate the black people of the world. that propaganda tends to cause disunity among the black people world wide. love of self in crucial to one's growth.

SirShymex:




Progress that comes with power play in international politics. You know - like technological advancement, industrialisation, strong military, very high GDP, political stability, etc.

How does international diplomacy bring about development?

Did China play the diplomatic card to transform itself to the largest economy?

ROSSIKE:


But all of Africa cannot show the same indices for the above. Africa has 52 countries. Some are more stable than others. Some are more industrialised than others. Some have higher GDPs than others etc etc. So to reduce the continent to some shanty refugee tent in Chad is way out of line, and you know it. And there is nothing superficial or inconsequential about Africa's growing middle classes. It means poverty is falling. Is that inconsequential? Nope. I think it's the most important statistic of all.

It will.

Remember both China and India used to be portrayed the same way, a few years ago. However, with the arrival of both countries, on the world map and grand chessboard - the image(s) changed. And there is a level of respect accorded to both countries now.

It's all about politics and power-play, that's what the image is about. And they have a reason for doing that. Image controls the mind and psyche.

Let me use Allen Ginsberg's quote to put it aptly for you: "Whoever controls the media, the images, controls the culture (mind).”

ROSSIKE:


I honestly don't think anything we do in Africa will lead to a revised western portrayal of the continent. Their portrayal is deliberately negative. It is not negative because they can't find positives to report. So the growth of positives will probably lead to even more negative reporting, a bit like how the rise of Obama in the US led to an increase in white racism. They don't want us to improve. Can't you get it? They actually need us to be the bad ''Other'' against which they can juxtapose their own perceived 'goodness'. It's a psychological need for them.

It is this mentality of we versus them that will keep us down.

The main problem in Africa is not how the western world view us but rather how we see each other.

Africans have to ask how we can build a stable society first and everything will fall in place.

BackDatAssUp:


How does international diplomacy bring about development?

Did China play the diplomatic card to transform itself to the largest economy?

I wasn't alluding to diplomacy. I was alluding to power-play in international politics. Both China and India today are seen as powerful countries - due to technological, industrial, economic, military, etc. advancements. That's the power-play right there.

SirShymex:


I wasn't alluding to diplomacy. I was alluding to power-play in international politics. Both China and India today are seen are powerful countries, due to technological, industrial, economic, military, etc. advancements. That's the power-play right there.

They became diplomatically relevant after they became successful.

Diplomacy is not a get free card. You get diplomatic currency when you have something to offer.

SirShymex:


It will.

Remember both China and India used to be portrayed the same way, a few years ago. However, with the arrival of both countries, on the world map and grand chessboard - the image(s) changed. And there is a level of respect accorded to both countries now.

It's all about politics and power-play, that's what the image is about. And they have a reason for doing that. Image controls the mind and psyche.

Let me use Allen Ginsberg's quote to put it aptly for you: "Whoever controls the media, the images, controls the culture (mind).”

But Africa, unlike India and China, is not a single country, so there will not be an ''arrival of Africa'', so to speak. Some countries of Africa will always lag behind, and those will be the countries used by the western media to represent 'Africa' - like the Chadian refugee tent. They could just as easily have gone to Accra or a suburb of Dakar or Jo'burg. But they chose the Chadian refugee tent to denote ''dinner in an African family''. They would still do that even if say Nigeria, Kenya and Zambia were to become nuclear powers and industrial giants.

If India is portrayed negatively, India is capable of telling her own story. Ditto for China. Can Africa tell her true story?

People should stop preaching morality (read objectivity) in international politics.

ROSSIKE:


But Africa, unlike India and China, is not a single country, so there will not be an ''arrival of Africa'', so to speak. Some countries of Africa will always lag behind, and those will be the countries used by the western media to represent ''Africa'' - like the Chadian refugeee tent. They could just as easily have gone to Accra or a suburb of Dakar. But they chose the Chadian refugee tent to denote ''dinner in an African family''.

It doesnt stop the fact that there are more displaced people in Africa than in any continent.

As long as there is a refugee family some where in Africa, then that picture aptly describes Africa.

Rather than condemn the presentation, I believe it should be a motivation to ensure that we get our act together.

BackDatAssUp:


It doesnt stop the fact that there are more displaced people in Africa than in any continent.

As long as there is a refugee family some where in Africa, then that picture aptly describes Africa..

You are WRONG. Pakistan, Jordan, Syria and Iran hold 60% of the world's 10 million refugees.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_refugee_population

Not that I blame you. You are also a victim of western media distortion. It's no surprise you automatically assumed Africa had the most displaced people.