Symposium on Unbroken Bond: Tracing the Ties Between African and Palestinian Anti-Colonial Struggles – African Media Silence: Complicity in the Oppression of Sudan and Palestine

[Elvis Mogesa Ongiri is the Managing Editor at the Kabarak Law Review and an Editorial Assistant at the Kabarak University Press. He is also an early career researcher interested in African approaches to international law.]

In a world where information is power, African national mainstream media plays an important role in informing and shaping perceptions of the African public. By shaping public consent and the reality of information, the media can cause social change or, in instances of significant polarisation, it can alienate and silence communities. In this piece, through empirical analysis of selected news outlets in Kenya, South Africa, and Gambia, I argue that African national mainstream media have failed to adequately report on the atrocities committed against Sudan and Palestine. By turning a blind eye, their silence becomes a damning indictment of complicity in oppression.

As the post proceeds, I discuss the hegemony of Western media that has long distorted the narrative of and about the Global South to emphasise why African national mainstream media should not be silent in face of oppression against parts of the Global South. I then provide some empirical evidence of how the media in Kenya, Gambia and South Africa have reported on the oppression currently taking place in Sudan and Palestine.

Hegemony in Reporting of Atrocities in the Global South

Galtung and Ruge posit that negative news from elite states is more newsworthy, while lower-ranked nations require more extreme negative events to be reported. The prevalent reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war, compared to other crises, illustrates this, especially when compared with African mainstream media’s underreporting of atrocities in Sudan and Palestine despite high casualties. 

Edward Said exposed the malicious generalisations about Muslims in terrorist attacks in Western media. He critiqued the portrayal of the Hebron Agreement, noting how controlled media created a wrong facade of reality. The cruelty of Palestine’s dilemma, as he put it, was that the majority of the people in the West genuinely believed that the Agreement brought peace. While diplomatic progress was reported, the media failed to depict the harsh realities faced by Palestinians, such as students barred from education and people tortured in prisons, leading to widespread misinformation about the situation.

With the present manifestation of anti-Palestinian racism in Western mainstream media, since 7 October 2023, this racialisation has increased heavily. An astonishing example is the opinion post in the New York Times that attempts a metaphorical comparison of the geopolitical realities with the animal kingdom equating the US and Israel to nobler animals but others as insects and parasites that should be exterminated. The dynamic of difference postulated by Antony Anghie rings loudly within these dynamics. 

There is consistency in the Western media’s portrayal of resistance. The BBC represented the Mau Mau revolters as apolitical terrorists with backward religious practices, using sensationalism to describe the conflict. Even African media, like the East African Standard, adopted similar language. This together with broader reporting on Africa by Western media highlight the persistence of communicating ‘stereotypical and negative images, and many times reaches simplistic conclusions to complicated issues’. 

This analysis shows that Western media has increasingly been misinforming the public through racialized reporting. African national mainstream media as the mirrors of their societies should ideally remedy this by accurately reporting injustices in Africa and the Global South. Further, this connection of the injustices that I focus on, Sudan and Palestine, and their reporting can be viewed through the lens of intersectionality of oppressed groups with shared realities. As I will demonstrate, African national mainstream media neglect to report on these atrocities making it difficult for Africans to identify themselves with the content in the media leading to strangers reflected in a mirror.

For the modest empirical analysis in this blog, the African countries that I focus on are:

1. South Africa due to its ICJ case against Israel.
2. The Gambia due to its intervention in the Rohingya case of Genocide and because the African Commission secretariat’s statement on Palestine was made from there.
3. Kenya due to its presence in Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and following President William Ruto’s recent interview regarding his failure to advise Biden to stop selling arms to Israel when he was visiting the United States.

These reasons by their nature and relation to the two conflicts would ideally lead the media in these countries to report on both or either of the two injustices in question. I have chosen specific major events during the two conflicts deemed newsworthy by Western media making it easier to track the reporting.

Moreover, the analysis examines top media houses in each country: Citizen Kenya, NTV Kenya, and KTN News Kenya; News24, SABC News, and Daily Maverick in South Africa; and The Point, Foroyaa Newspaper, and the Standard Newspaper in Gambia. I will base the reporting from the YouTube channels showing the live television reporting and for the Gambian media, I will rely on online posts.

Media Reporting on the Sudan Conflict

For this conflict, the major events I look at are: 

• 15 April 2023 when RSF and SAF begin fighting 
• The signing of the Treaty of Jeddah 
• IGAD peace talks and their breaking down 
• The post-April 2024 atrocities by RSF in Dafur

15 April 2023: RSF and SAF Begin Fighting

Country	News Reported	Reporter	Reported/Not Reported
Kenya	Citizen TV   Not Reported	KTN News   Not Reported	NTV Kenya   Not Reported
South Africa	News24 Not Reported	SABC News Reported	Daily Maverick Not Reported
Gambia	The Point Not Reported	Foroyaa Newspaper Not Reported	The Standard Newspaper Not Reported

8-20 May 2023: Signing of the Treaty of Jeddah

Country	News Reported	Reporter	Reported/Not Reported
Kenya	Citizen TV Reported	KTN News Not Reported	NTV Kenya Not Reported
South Africa	News24 Not Reported	SABC News Reported	Daily Maverick Not Reported
Gambia	The Point Not Reported	Foroyaa Newspaper Not Reported	The Standard Newspaper Not Reported

16 June 2023: IGAD Peace Talks Initiating and Breaking Down due to SAF Accusing Ruto of Helping the RSF

Country	News Reported	Reporter	Reported/Not Reported
Kenya	Citizen TV Reported	KTN News Reported	NTV Kenya Reported
South Africa	News24 Not Reported	SABC News Reported	Daily Maverick Not Reported
Gambia	The Point Not Reported	Foroyaa Newspaper Not Reported	The Standard Newspaper Not Reported

Post April 2024 Atrocities by RSF in Dafur

Country	News Reported	Reporter	Reported/Not Reported
Kenya	Citizen TV  Not Reported	KTN News Reported	NTV Kenya Not Reported
South Africa	News24 Not Reported	SABC News Reported	Daily Maverick Not Reported
Gambia	The Point Not Reported	Foroyaa Newspaper Not Reported	The Standard Newspaper Not Reported

Although not reporting on 15 April 2023 during the breakout of the war, the Kenyan news stations reported afterwards, Citizen TV reported on 18 April 2023, KTN News reported on 17 April 2023 and NTV Kenya reported here and here on 16 April 2023 and 17 April 2023 respectively. However, apart from the onset of the war and when it related to President Ruto’s involvement in the war through IGAD, they barely reported on the following major events including the present ongoing conflict in Dafur.

In South Africa, apart from SABC News, no other outlet reported on the war. Interestingly, SABC News reported on all the major events that occurred during the war. In Gambia, the Point had a news post on broad violations of human rights in Sudan, and repatriation of Gambians from the Sudan conflict-ridden territory. This is similar to Foroyaa Newspaper. For the Standard Newspaper, they have not expressly reported on the war but they have this opinion post on the outcome of the war and this commentary on the silence of the ICC on the Sudan war. 

Media Reporting on the Israel-Palestine War

For this conflict, I have chosen three major events which include: 

• 7 October 2023 Hamas attack and Israel retaliation 
• The South Africa ICJ case against Israel 
• The ICC seeking arrest warrants for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and top Hamas leader

7 October 2023: Hamas Attack and Israel Retaliation 

Country	News Reported	Reporter	Reported/Not Reported
Kenya	Citizen TV Reported	KTN News Reported	NTV Kenya Reported
South Africa	News24 Reported	SABC News Reported	Daily Maverick Not Reported
Gambia	The Point Not Reported	Foroyaa Newspaper Not Reported	The Standard Newspaper   Not Reported

The South Africa ICJ Case against Israel

Country	News Reported	Reporter	Reported/Not Reported
Kenya	Citizen TV   Not reported	KTN News Reported	NTV Kenya Not Reported
South Africa	News24 Reported	SABC News Reported	Daily Maverick Reported
Gambia	The Point Not Reported	Foroyaa Newspaper Reported	The Standard Newspaper   Not Reported

ICC Seeking Arrest Warrants for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Top Hamas Leaders

Country	News Reported	Reporter	Reported/Not Reported
Kenya	Citizen TV Reported	KTN News Reported	NTV Kenya Reported
South Africa	News24 Not Reported	SABC News Reported	Daily Maverick Reported
Gambia	The Point Not Reported	Foroyaa Newspaper Reported	The Standard Newspaper Reported

In Kenya, the media houses reported on the start of the war and the ICC’s Prosecutor seeking arrest warrants for both parties in the war, but the ICJ case by South Africa was only reported by KTN News. An interesting online post on Hamas slaughtering babies in an Israeli village in the Nation (NTV’s online platform) and this headline, ‘Death is near’: Gaza disfigured by air strikes and siege’ both authored by Agence France-Presse are evidence to the use of headlines to racialise media and not attributing the two atrocities to Israel. Equally, publishing posts authored by a Western platform shows the influence of Western media on African media.

In South Africa, all the media houses reported on most of the major events, with the exception of News 24 not reporting on the ICC’s Prosecutor seeking arrest warrants for both parties in the war. In Gambia, the Standard Newspaper did not report on the ICJ case but they had an opinion post on the threshold on proving intent of genocide. Further, the Point only reported on the UN urging peace in the war on Palestine. Therefore, although the reporting of the Palestine conflict is higher than the Sudan conflict, it is clear that even for a conflict as widely broadcasted as this, there are still instances of neglect in reporting. 

From the two tables, it is clear that there is an apparent underreporting of the two conflicts though more so for Sudan. Secondly, the sporadic coverage of these conflicts often reeks of self-interest, focusing on how they impact national politics rather than the human toll of war and occupation.

Conclusion 

I do not contend that the issue of resources to conduct journalism in Africa by African media is irrelevant. There is indeed a need for resources for African journalism and African stories in order for the content to be available. Another possible counterfactual to this research is that these news outlets are perhaps obliged to focus on more national news as opposed to international news. However, these atrocities are not merely international news but they are the lived realities of people from the Global South who have for a long time been neglected and misrepresented by racialised media. Further, African media engages in feigned ignorance that perpetuates subjugation of the Global South. From the bustling streets of Nairobi to the vibrant townships of Johannesburg, screens remain conspicuously devoid of the harsh realities faced by people in Sudan and Palestine.

Therefore, it is imperative that African national mainstream media become the key to challenge this status quo and adequately report on the injustices occasioned to its people. African media equally has the power to shape colère publique (public anger) towards these conflicts. True to Edward Said’s words, we should be the news bearers of the true quotidian injustices that occur in our home. Although he refers to Palestinians, this can be extended to Africans not just living in the said areas of conflict but the larger continent as well. Drawing on Tom Mboya’s words ‘it was important that the Press in Africa should concern itself with finding out what goes on in the African mind and shun the bias and prejudice that is oblivious of what is pro-African’.

Photo attribution: “Graffiti of Peace in Bethlehem on Apartheid Wall” by Kis-Lev is licenced under CC BY-SA 4.0.