How does Fox News cover Africa?

Résumé du document

Fox News is the top rated channel in the United States (U.S.) but it is also broadcasted internationally in 40 countries. It can stand for an American point of view about news but also for a more global one. Fox News has an obvious impact on Americans. That is why, in order to monitor the way Africa is covered by an Anglo-Saxon Western News, I have chosen to focus on this source. My study will be based on articles released on Fox News website and transcripts of video programs. How is Fox News covering Africa? Is it providing stereotypes about this continent or is it giving an accurate representation of what Africa is? To answer these questions, I will study the form of the programs and articles but also the topics covered. First, let us have a background of what Fox News is. Then, the covering of Africa by this source will be examined.
Before monitoring Fox News, it must be said what kind of media it is. Fox News is a United States-based cable and satellite news channel available in the United States but also around the world. The slogans of the channel are "We Report, You Decide", "Fair and Balanced", "The Most Powerful Name in News", "We Put the World in Context". It has been launched in 1996 to 17 million cable subscribers. In addition to the channel, Fox News also has a website (www.foxnews.com).

Extraits

[...] How does Fox News cover Africa? Fox News is the top rated channel in the United States (U.S.) but it is also broadcasted internationally in 40 countries. It can stand for an American point of view about news but also for a more global one. Fox News has an obvious impact on Americans. That is why, in order to monitor the way Africa is covered by an Anglo-Saxon Western News, I have chosen to focus on this source. My study will be based on articles released on Fox News website and transcripts of video programs. [...]

[...] I could not find any articles written by a Fox News correspondent in Africa. The fact that the top rated American channel does not send journalists in Africa demonstrates a complete lack of interest for what is going on in this continent. In addition, it leads to misperceptions by referring to United States' like a foreign country delivering its position towards African issues. Countries covered are Congo, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Nigeria, Uganda and South Africa. The most covered country is Somalia mostly because of the latest events but also during the previous months. [...]

[...] Let us discuss the accuracy of Fox News coverage of Africa. On the one hand, what about the video programs? Africa is hardly never the main subject of a video program but at least it sometimes appears when a breaking news is broadcasted enough to lead to debates. The countries concerned are Sudan with the Darfurian crisis and Somalia about the latest political events occuring there. They only deal with Africa in these programs when the United States are or could be involved in the news. [...]

[...] Both programs and articles do not seem to provide an accurate coverage of Africa. Firstly, because they do not cover the whole continent but only some countries; but also because they are neither giving a voice to African people nor underlining positive aspect of Africa. I would say that the average viewer of Fox News must believe that Africa is a violent Islamism continent that helps terrorists to prepare terrorist attacks against the US. The Fox News map of Africa, by identifying only some countries of Africa, stands for the ignorancy that most Fox News viewers must experience concerning Africa. [...]

[...] The choice to cover Somalia might be due to the 1990s events and the American failure. The one of Nigeria could be linked with the fact that it is the fifth-largest supplier of crude to the United States. Fox News coverage of Africa is very pessimistic because I could not read any positive articles. Political conflicts are the main topic instead of economic or cultural events. In the end, let us wonder why Fox News conveys such stereotypes. What is the point in not covering correctly Africa? [...]