Africa is different from how the media portrays it, between stereotypes and approximations
Rights — di Simone Santi
The Africa portrayed by the media does not reflect the complexity of reality. The narrative needs to change.
Africa is different from how the media portrays it, between stereotypes and approximations
The Africa portrayed by the media does not reflect the complexity of reality. The narrative needs to change.
- The L'Africa Mediata report by Amref and Osservatorio di Pavia records a decline in the quantity and quality of news about Africa in Italian media in 2024
- A narrative dominated by poverty, immigration, crime prevails, leaving little room for local perspectives.
- There are also positive examples, based on coverage of culture, biodiversity, and cooperation.
British-Nigerian journalist Dipo Faloyin, in his book Africa Is Not a Country, says that "sometimes you hear people say 'a war has broken out in Africa' or 'I love African food'". And that "when thinking about Africa, many Europeans conjure only stereotyped images because for a long time 'Africa' was synonymous with poverty, conflict, corruption, civil wars, and stretches of arid red earth. But Africa is so much more — it is not one single thing, and above all it is not a country".
And evidently this holds true not only in English-speaking countries, but in Italy as well: in Italian news media, for instance, Africa continues to exist, but almost never in its full complexity and even less as a protagonist. It is evoked, here too, mostly through dark tones, reduced to a backdrop of emergencies, unrest, migration and threats. This is confirmed, data in hand, by the sixth edition of the report L'Africa Mediata, produced by Amref Health Africa-Italia and the Osservatorio di Pavia, presented in Rome on the occasion of the Africa Days. The picture that emerges is clear: a media narrative that is thin, repetitive, and often unbalanced. And yet, surprisingly, signs of change are also surfacing — signs that Faloyin would welcome — along with a strong demand from the public: telling a different story about Africa is not only possible, but necessary.
Africa "here" and Africa "there": the narrative that divides
First, the bad news. In 2024, news items on African topics on the front pages of Italian newspapers dropped by 50 per cent compared to the previous year. And among the few that were published, as many as 77.3 per cent concerned Africa in Italy: that is, African or Afro-descendant people in an Italian or European context, generally linked to migratory flows, crime reporting or major events (such as the Olympics or the case of Algerian boxer Khelif). Only 22.7 per cent covered Africa there — meaning events actually set on the continent — where the pairing of "war and terrorism" continues to dominate. The picture is confirmed in prime-time news bulletins too: while overall attention to Africa increases (4.5 per cent of the total news agenda, a six-year high), the share of stories set on the African continent falls to 1.2 per cent. The rest is once again devoted to migration, security, crises and European foreign policy.
An Africa without a voice, reduced to stereotypes
For the first time, the dossier measured how often African or Afro-descendant people appear on television. The figure is striking: only 62 out of more than 5,000 guests overall in the news and infotainment programmes analysed between September and December 2024 — just 1.2 per cent of the total. And when it does happen, these appearances are almost always tied to problematic narratives: the condition of women in Islam (32.2 per cent), female genital mutilation (16.1 per cent), crime and immigration (14.5 per cent), youth hardship and suburban peripheries (for example, the Ramy and Nukabi cases). In very few cases — only 3.2 per cent — is "Africa there" actually the subject. Even at political summits, such as the Italy-Africa summit of January 2024 that laid the groundwork for the government's Piano Mattei, African voices remain off-screen. Italian politicians' comments are plentiful; African leaders are barely granted a brief intervention. And some outlets, in their headlines, return to evoking the idea of a "cultural incompatibility", feeding identity-based barriers.
"L'Agenda 2063 dell'Africa, che riguarda la pace e la prosperità, non può essere raggiunta senza comunità sane. I governi devono assicurarsi che la salute rimanga un motore di prosperità" - dice
@daktari1, Direttore Globale di @Amref_Worldwide
@daktari1, Direttore Globale di @Amref_Worldwide
The media reflection is precise, almost mirror-like, in public perception. The Ipsos survey conducted for Amref shows that 67 per cent of Italians associate Africa with words such as poverty, disease, migration. These are followed by famine, war, corruption, terrorism. Positive themes such as development, future, art, innovation are almost entirely absent. An impoverished and distorted image that contributes to constructing — or reinforcing — an Africa without hope, defined by problems and instability.
But the same survey reveals a surprising finding: 82 per cent of Italians, and as many as 88 per cent of young Gen Z respondents, are calling for a more balanced narrative, one that also highlights the continent's opportunities and riches. Because, as Amref Italia president Paola Crestani says — echoing also the words of President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella — "the way a continent is portrayed can fuel prejudice, distance, fear. Or it can build bridges of knowledge, respect, and collaboration. Bridges of development. Italy is more than ever convinced of the need for our two continents to face together the challenges confronting the international community".
Small signs of change: culture, environment and cooperation
And here we come to the good news. Despite the critical overall picture, there is no shortage of encouraging signals. In television programmes, nature-based storytelling — focusing on the environment, landscapes and biodiversity — accounts for 30 per cent of references to Africa, and the category of "cooperation" rises to 23 per cent, surpassing wars and migration for the first time. This is a sign of a more structured and less crisis-driven approach, one that also looks at Italy's role in development projects and at the bilateral relations between the two continents.
Tangeri, città cosmopolita e vibrante, ha ospitato la prima edizione della Tangeri Fashion Week
#TangeriFashionWeek #show #fashionweek
fashionpress.it/tangeri-fashio…
#TangeriFashionWeek #show #fashionweek
fashionpress.it/tangeri-fashio…
Some programmes stand out for a more inclusive and constructive approach, such as those focused on scientific and cultural outreach that portray Africa through the lens of innovation, technology and positive stories: among these, for example, the programme Geo on Rai 3. It is from here that a fairer, truer narrative can begin. Furthermore, 2024 saw a tentative opening towards more nuanced storytelling: sport (such as women's rugby in Mozambique), fashion (with the Tangeri Fashion Week) and culture (through exhibitions and conferences in Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa) all found space, albeit a marginal one.