U.S. MASS MEDIA PORTRAYAL OF THE AFRICAN CONTINENT: THE AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE

This thesis explores how Africans perceive their continent is portrayed by U.S. media, and what Africans think about these portrayals. Africa is a continent known in the United States and other Western nations for darkness, wars, famine and other vices. Africans were asked to describe the kinds of news stories on Africa they see reported by U.S. media, whether those representations are accurate or not, and ways they feel those misrepresentations can be corrected. The participant responses were analyzed using Walter Fisher’s narrative paradigm as the theoretical framework. An online survey was administered through Qualtrics resulting in 99 participants dropping to 68 qualitative responses. Participants argued that though Africa is faced with some negativity, there is more to the continent and its people than is portrayed, stating that the good outweighs the bad.