EX-PRESIDENT CHISSANO CRITICIZES COVERAGE OF

UNCLAS MAPUTO 000463

SIPDIS
DEPT FOR IIP/G/AF; AF/PD (CDALTON); AF/S (HTREGER); AF/PD
(JBARNES)
DEPT PLEASE PASS TO SOUTH AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
COLLECTIVE (SADC) AS INFO
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO OIIP OPRC MZ
SUBJECT: EX-PRESIDENT CHISSANO CRITICIZES COVERAGE OF
AFRICA IN U.S MEDIA


1. The international page of the April 11 edition of
the official daily Noticias (circulation 80,000)
carried an unattributed story headlined, "U.S. Media
Coverage Harmful to Africa - according to Chissano." An
informal translation follows:


2. Begin translation: North American media coverage of
Africa focuses on bad news that harms the flow of
investment and assistance to the continent, said former
Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano last week in
Johannesburg, South Africa.

3."Negative perceptions bring negative results - a low
level of aid and weak investment," said Chissano, who
gave up the country's presidency in February after 18
years in power.


4. A study of coverage of Africa in five prominent
American publications shows that there is little
mention of the end of civil wars, economic growth, and
growing access to education, averred Chissano in a
press conference with other ex-heads of African states.


5. The study was conducted between 1994 and 2004 and
concentrated on the New York Times, Washington Post,
Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and U.S. News and World
Report.


6. Calamities in Somalia, Rwanda, and West Africa got
headlines, while transitions to democracy in Nigeria,
Ghana, South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique and other
points on the continent were ignored.


7. The former leaders of Mozambique, Ghana, Tanzania,
Mauritius, Zambia, Benin, Botswana, Kenya, and Burundi
said that they were not calling for Western
journalists, and Americans in particular, to avoid
coverage of Africa's problems, but for them to report
positive events as well.


8. "Coverage of Africa. . . in best of hypotheses omits
the continent's potential and progress," said Chissano
after the meeting at the University of the
Witwatersrand.


9. The former American diplomat, Boston University's
Charles Stith, who conducted the study, said that the
institution he represents chose the period 1994-2004
"because it was when important democratic changes and
economic reforms took place on the continent. . .
Coverage of Africa was for the most part negative," he
concluded. End translation
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