Flag of Ghana, embedded in the map of Ghana
The Ghana 2008 Presidential/Parliamentary elections has been over since about 12 hours ago and I find it interesting that many of the leading Western media outlets have not made a mention of Ghana 2008 Elections. Perhaps, Ghana does not exist on their radar screen. Ghana, like the rest of black Africa will only pop-up on their monitoring screens when over 1,000 people have butchered themselves or over 300,000 people are dying of starvation, or over 500,000 people are displaced by a civil war.
I would quickly analyse the international 24/7 news TV channels I monitor:
BBC World News: The BBC has been mentioning the Ghana 2008 elections on their TV and radio world services respectively, and also a prominent mention on their news website, just before the elections. The BBC even has a web page dedicated to the Ghana 2008 elections. I am not surprised about the BBC. They are the biggest international broadcaster and have more permanent reporters in more countries than any other broadcaster. More so, Ghana is a former British colony so events in Ghana and other members of the Commonwealth appear to be even of more particular interest to the BBC. Kudos.
CNN International: I am not sure whether they sent reporters to Ghana or not. If they did, the reporters either cannot find a power outlet to connect their equipment and upload the news or they have not found anything news-worthy [yet]. The Elections have been very peaceful and so I reckon CNN has nothing to report. Had 100 people lost their lives due to the elections, Ghana will be in their leading news headlines. For now, Ghana does not exist to them. The only mention I have seen from CNN is found on the Africa News archive of their website and it is even an AP report. Shame on CNN.
Sky News: This TV channel in my view is more British than the BBC. Their reports are more of local British news, so I would skip them. Note though that Zimbabwe is a permanent feature on their reportage since Zimbabwe is bad news personified.
EuroNews: The name says its all – European News. Need I say more?
This same station would feature Congo DR engulfed in civil war, Zimbabwe fast descending into chaos or a Kenya and its people butchering each other.
AlJazeera English: Ghana 2008 Elections appeared on their leading news broadcast on 7th December the election day. They had a live report from Accra the capital of Ghana during their news broadcast, and had a round-up of the day’s event after the country had voted. AlJazeera English also had leading report about the subject matter on their news website.
* The news channels listed are the English-speaking ones, and listed in the order they appear on DSTV.
Related posts:
- Zimbabwe 2008 Elections Results: How to monitor on TV
- President Obama in Ghana. Why not Nigeria?
- Ghana 2008: Ghana versus Nigeria
- Earthquake scare in Ghana. Is Ghana prepared?
- Why I blog about Africa
- Ghana 2008 African Cup of Nations Pictures Website
- Chasing the Elephant into the Bush: The Politics of Complacency
- BarCamp Ghana 2008
- Ghana is the size of Lagos! Or is it?
- Are you a blogger in Ghana?
Global Voices Online » Twittering the Ghanaian Elections from Texas, United States
Ghana Election 2008: Where is the Western Media? | Bischoff.no from Rogaland, Norway
Peaceful elections just ain’t news - the dire state of world reporting on Africa | Journalism.co.uk Editors' Blog from Cornwall, United Kingdom
Twitter Updates
So why are you ranting? Your blog is inconsistent with the title. You’re not making a point here my man.
Thank you for sharing my frustration over this. It is difficult to get any concrete information on how things are going, and I am disappointed over the lack of interest in an election with such importance as this one.
@ “My Biz”, you are not even bold enough to post your comment under your real name. You sit there in Netherlands, and fail to read my post thoroughly before sharing your views. I am sure though that intelligent people are reading and can make sense of my “rants”.
All views are welcome.
i share your sentiments too. i have had the same concerns ever since this ellection came to an end.i actually reside in the states so i watch a lot cable news and none of these cable news have made mention of the election.surprisingly the only African news item i see on tv is the cholera devastation in Zimbabwe. This makkes me sad.So nothing good comes of Africa that is worth reporting.They are all waiting for us to start “butchering” one another and they will say the IDIOTS are at it agian so lets report it for the whole world to see them.that is just some bull.great job on this article
excellent article. I tried searching for info the other day, and am disappointed in the lack of coverage on this.
I was reading this article after stumbling upon it in the search for details about the elections. Clearly you make some clear and undeniable statements about the state of global media.
Question: I didnt see a contact tab but wanted to ask if you’d be willing to do a telephone or skype interview on this very topic for my podcast on under-reported news. If you’re at all interested and able… send me an email and we’ll work out a day and time. See if we can’t take some more steps towards making up for the shameful gaps the mainstream media has long kept.
Good work David. i think this is time the blackman needs to wake up to see that these so call wentern medias are just there to see only the bad side of African continent. they see nothing important about Africa just the negative aspect but God will judge them with their deeds. May God bless Africa and Ghana has prove them wrong, they were waiting for something bad to come but God is on ourside.
Good article but be specific about the part of Africa you are from don’t be like some “clever” americans who think Africa is a country.
What is the current customer base of DSTV in Ghana verses MultiTV. And which TV service; DSTV vs. MultiTv would you recommend? Please advise!
Which leagues are available on MultiTV?
Thanks