US embassy cable - 05MAPUTO463

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, Chissano 
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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