Their charts on coverage trends offer an indictment of blatant media failure. When shows about human rights, environmental issues and development subjects are made, they tend to get aired in marginal time slots, to smaller audiences, and without advertising or promotion. No wonder the ratings suffer. What this means is that more and more people are being condemned to die out of public view. But the Internet will not solve these problems.
Communication has to be a two-way street, with more African voices heard and seen.
If you live in Africa, however, that probability drops to one in 5,000, according to a new report issued by the Geneva-based International Labor Organization. Instead of enabling change, they have become an obstacle to it. Instead of facilitating democracy, they threaten it by refusing to inform and inspire. I will be in England next week at Leicester University for a conference on International News to discuss what media insiders, researchers and activists can do about this. I became a journalist to help spotlight the problems of the world.