How the North pictures the neighbouring South: the Portuguese press coverage of the Sahrawi conflict

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Abstract

This article explores how the media, in a country that used to be a colonial power yet belongs to a relatively peaceful culture, depicts one of the oldest disputes in Africa. Drawing on a three-year analysis of the Portuguese press coverage of the Sahrawi conflict, it also tests some basic foundations of the selective representation of Africa in news reporting: the predominantly one-way traffic of information between the North and the South, as well as a similar imbalance in terms of the nature of the news treatment which tends to focus on negative and deviant issues often portrayed in a highly stereotyped fashion. The study does not corroborate Africa's thinness and invisibility but rather points to the pivotal influence of national context the Portuguese afectio comunitatis combined with a notable sensitivity towards human rights and self-determination issues in the reporting of a given political process.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)415-427
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of African Media Studies
Volume1
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2009
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Portuguese Press
  • Western Sahara
  • Dark and invisible continent
  • Meta-performance analysis
  • Representation of Africa

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