“If It Bleeds It Shouldn’t Lead”: Reporting in the Age of Terrorism in Africa

[caption id="attachment_11936" align="aligncenter" width="600"] A screenshot of the front page of the Daily Nation's website on December 18, 2016.[/caption]

When terrorists attacked the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, on September 21, 2013, the country was shocked and the media was confused. The Sunday edition of one of the leading mainstream newspapers, the Daily Nation, was caught up in the confusion by publishing bold headlines and gory close-up images of a woman in pain with a blood-covered face. That coverage might have sold well, but it provoked questions on the ethics of journalism in Kenya. On social media, anger at the gory, sensationalistic coverage manifested in a campaign with the hashtag "#BoycottDailyNation." Soon after, the Nation Media Group's CEO Linus Gitahi apologized to the nation via Twitter and on Nation Television (NTV) for the newspaper's poor judgment in using the photos. He tweeted:

Kenyans, we made a poor judgement on our front page photo today. We sincerely apologize for the hurt caused.

— Linus Gitahi (@LinusGitahi) September 22, 2013

The newspaper was bashed for telling the "truth" at the expense of "exercising responsibility." However, the issue is not a binary choice, and factual accuracy can be achieved while coverage is conducted responsibly and with respect to building peace. The media needs to dive deeper and report more carefully when covering sensitive issues like terrorism. Truth can be easily distorted if journalists do not have time to do sufficient research to report more background information and a deeper understanding of the context. Greater examination of how traditional journalistic principles can undermine peace and community is also needed.

The case of Westgate raises important questions. How should the mainstream press in Africa tell the truth in the aftermath of terrorism without affecting people psychologically? Should the media continue employing the kind of old-fashioned journalistic principles captured in the aphorisms "bad news is good news," and "when it bleeds it leads"? I recently spoke to one of the editors of the Daily Nation about the role of the media in sensationalizing terrorism and, in doing so, advancing the interests of terrorists. In the course of the informal interview, it became apparent that newsroom editors and journalists have an obligation and a traditional responsibility to tell it like it is. However, when I asked her about the extent to which the in vulnerable states like Kenya, especially considering the surge of terrorism in the Horn of Africa, she conceded that perhaps it is time news coverage about terrorism be conducted in a "special manner" in order to maintain peace and security, though she did not have an immediate solution.

African Peace Journalism

Solutions do exist and can be found in alternative journalistic approaches that are Africa-centric. Western Peace Journalism, conceptualized by Jake Lynch and Annabel McGoldrick, is premised on the principal of truth, good and responsible journalism that focuses on finding peaceful solution to conflict. It is conceived as an opposite to propagandistic "War Journalism," which simply justifies and legitimizes conflicts. The U.S.-led war on terror in Iraq supplied a number of good examples of "War Journalism," well captured by David Miller in his book "Tell Me Lies: Propaganda and Media Distortions in the Attack on Iraq."

Hybrid Peace Journalism (HPJ) is a variant of peace journalism that incorporates Africa-centric philosophies and sensitivities. I explained at the University of Bath's Institute for Policy Research why Africa must depart from this western style of war reporting and experiment the Africa-centric Hybrid Peace Journalism approach through a seminar paper titled "From Al-Qaida to Al-Shabaab – News Media and the Global Implications of Terror in Kenya and East Africa"' The ideological underpinning of HPJ challenges the conviction that journalism is an attribute of Western societies and Africa needs lectures on journalism and journalistic implications, if it is to be properly applied in the African context. HPJ argues that in fact, journalism is an old complimentary cultural art, a system of knowledge and communication not only as old as man, but also interlinked to humans in inseparable fashions — it can therefore not be confined to any civilization and defined through the parochial black-white dichotomy.

If journalism is to succeed in Africa, then it ought to trace its spirit and footsteps in Africa. It can find its spirit in the great African narratives like Kwame Nkrumah's pan-Africanism, Julius Nyerere's Ujamaa, Jomo Kenyatta's Harambee, and Nelson Mandela's Ubuntu. The fusion of these terms — Utu/Ubuntu meaning humanity, Umoja meaning Unity, and Harambee meaning togetherness — define Africanism and community, and therefore must inform HPJ. Practically, this means journalists must generally apply the philosophies of peace, love, and unity when reporting terrorism. They must ensure that the theme of peace and unity is highlighted in their choice of the sources they quote in their news reports. For example, after the recent attack at a Mombasa police station by three female terrorists, the Daily Nation quoted Ali Hassan Joho, Governor of Mombasa, calling for unity and togetherness:

"I appeal to the community, leadership and everybody, let's remain together. To every one of us I say protect your life but also be your brother's keeper…Let this incident help us emerge even stronger as a community."

In his appeal to the community (Ujamaa), his call to remain together (Harambee), to be your brother's keeper (Utu/Ubuntu), and to emerge as a stronger community (Umoja), the governor's quote deftly calls upon the ideals these philosophies embody. Similarly the area's Member of Parliament asked the public to remain calm. Specifically highlighting and amplifying appeals to peace and community like this in writing stories in the aftermath of terror is key to ensuring journalism builds peace.

Africa urgently needs this kind of coverage due to the mutating nature of violent extremism. The media has the power to help set and frame public agendas. This calls for the utilization of media approaches where terrorism is exposed and judicial convictions represented accordingly with deliberate mentions of peace and unity in the narratives. The aforementioned approach has been witnessed in how the local media has covered the recent attack by three women in Mombasa. However, as I write here, it is difficult to conclude whether such reporting was deliberate.

In the Westgate incident, the Kenyan media sensationalized the narrative of the "White Widow," a British-born female terrorist who became involved in al-Shabaab, instead of conducting in-depth follow-up coverage on her involvement. It is now believed she wasn't involved in the attack. At the same time, heroic gestures in the context and aftermath of terror, exhibited through people , a Muslim schoolteacher who stood up for Christian passengers when al-Shabaab terrorists attacked a bus, ought to be appraised by the media. Heroism is found in outstanding men and women who dare terror in the face for the sake of others. It is such gestures that are inspired by the desire to nature peace in the spirit of humanism (Ubuntu) in order to counter the ideological interest of terrorists and, at the same time, remind us of the nature of our African belonging (Harambee).

Africa needs peace. Therefore, the call for HPJ when reporting incidences of violent extremism in Africa is necessary and urgent. This kind of reporting demands that we expose terrorism in a "special kind" of coverage that is humane (Utu) and mindful that collective actions (Harambee) and belonging (Umoja) are necessary in overcoming terror incidences and advancing the discourse of positive peace rather than that of fear and hysteria.

Fredrick Ogenga Ph.D. was a Southern Voices Network Scholar for Peacebuilding at the Wilson Center. He is the Head of the Department of Communication, Journalism and Media Studies, Rongo University College and Founding Director, Center for Media, Democracy, Peace and Security (CMDPS), a member organization of the Southern Voices Network for Peacebuilding.