Media and Development

What are the main issues in the media coverage of developing countries Were these evident in coverage of the 2003 Iraq war ? Library research on media coverage of the war required : one book or about four articles in scholarly journals

The media have a major role to play when it comes to assuring the success or failure to keep developing countries on the world stage However , the major worry is that the world 's dominant media institutions are faced by major competition which tends to exert heavy centrifugal pressure away from developing

countries . Most of the western media focus their attention on the developed world . For example , there is in depth coverage of events occurring in the G8 countries , when compared with other developed countries . Western editors tend to give more value to news occurring in more developed countries . As a result , there is less coverage of developing countries in the global media . The little attention that western media give to developing countries is often filled by negative reporting . Most western media tend to cover events in the developing world when these events are related to things like war famine , disaster , repression , corruption and political unrest . This shall focus on the main issues of western media coverage of developing countries . It shall look at Africa as a case study , and then compare the trends with the coverage of the Iraqi war by the media . The shall also bring out some comparisons between the coverage of the Iraqi war by western media and the coverage of the same war from media in developing countries

Each time the issue of media coverage of developing countries comes up there is one question that comes to mind . Do editors get it right or wrong when it comes to developing countries ? Or do they choose a way to see them ? It is important to note that it is not easy to clearly say whether editors get it right or wrong . However , many editors that have the powers to influence news content in the dominant media organs grew up in developed countries and have some perceptions about developing countries from childhood . Even though many of them might have traveled to developing countries in their news careers , many of them , at the same time are still influenced by their initial perceptions about these countries . These perceptions influence them in their daily judgment and quest for news from developing countries . I know of many people who only picture suffering each time they here about Africa . That 's because that 's the story they heard while growing up . But it might be shocking to learn that many African countries have great cities with great buildings . Many roads are jammed with SUVs owned by the business class However , when the news cameras of CNN , BBC or ABC go down to Africa they head straight to the trouble spots . All western news crews are stationed in Darfur , Somalia for instance . But of them report the rise and fall...