By Nevanji Madanhire
THE war in Ukraine has turned upside down what we have always taken for granted to be the hallmarks of good journalism.
In the backdrop of World Press Freedom, which was marked early this week, journalists in Africa should sit down and reflect on how the continent should report geopolitical conflict.
The Western media, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have bunched up with their governments to push a certain narrative on what is happening in that part of the world.
As we speak no one knows what exactly is happening in Ukraine. The Western media would like the world to believe that Russia is on the receiving end; more than 25 000 of their soldiers, including top-notch generals, have been eliminated while casualties are sparse on the Ukrainian side.
The only deaths of Ukrainians reported are those of civilians callously killed by the “bloody” Russians as they supposedly did in Bucha.
The picture painted of Russia is that of a bad country that is committing war crimes by butchering civilians, who include women and children.
The Russians are losing the war according to Western media reports. The gallantry of Ukrainian forces is touted at every turn. But in spite of all this, images cannot be censored of flattened cities and anecdotal evidence seems to show that the picture on the ground is the exact opposite of what the world is being told.
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For example, despite Ukraine reportedly repulsing the Russians with little loss, the United States, which obviously is a major player in the conflict, is about to pour an extra US$33 billion in the war effort. What does that say about which direction that war is going?
There is also the issue of Covid-19. The world is meant to believe that there was some divine intervention that has spared Ukraine from the devastating scourge of Covid-19. Five million people were on the move in the first few weeks of the conflict using crowded trains and buses and spending days at the borders trying to escape.
Millions of others are huddled together in underground bunkers hiding from incessant Russian bombardment, but somehow Covid-19 has spared them. The only reports on Covid-19 we get in the Western media are, understandably, on China which is considered another bad country. Some onlookers are beginning to wonder if Covid-19 is one of the greatest hoaxes of all time.
African journalists must now be cognisant of the fact that the next wars will be triggered by geopolitical conflicts. From Eastern Europe, world focus will switch to Africa as the West and the East grapple over control of the continent.
The Americans are already establishing a foothold in Zambia and no one knows what their rivals, the Chinese and the Russians are going to do next. It’s now incumbent upon African journalists to understand this and defend their turf as the Western media are doing.
