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I could be biased, or just seeing a bias that isn't there.
I know that extreme poverty and other dire conditions exist in several parts of this planet. It seems...seems...that stories originating in Africa get reported disproportionately. Do they?
For instance, I used to listen almost exclusively to NPR and one day it sort of popped in my head and I started noticing that they seemed just infatuated with any story, even weak ones, that came out of Africa.
Afrca (and some parts of Asia and Indonesia) represent the "last frontier" in the advance of human progress and, by default, of a global culture -- regardless of how that culture is defined, or how the individual participants regard it.
It's not only the least developed continent, it's a battleground between the process of Enlightenment and the enforcement of Absolutes. It has no tested pluralistic democracies within its boundaries and won't have any for a long time to come, but an unprecedented venture in that process is underway in (not suprisingly) South Africa, which also possesses the resources and infrastucture to sustain it.
I could be biased, or just seeing a bias that isn't there.
I know that extreme poverty and other dire conditions exist in several parts of this planet. It seems...seems...that stories originating in Africa get reported disproportionately. Do they?
No. They get reported proportionately.
Africa contains 28% (54 of 190) of the fully-recognized, undisputed sovereign states on the planet. Yet consider the poorest countries in the world. We'll use per capita GDP - here's a list of four recent compilations of this metric: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capita
In those lists, Africa holds the last 12, 17, 15 and 13 spots, respectively. That's right - between a quarter and a third of Africa can be described as "not as affluent as North Korea or Afghanistan".
One African country - Equatorial Guinea, a very small state with barely 600,000 people - manages to crack the top 40 in one of the four lists. That's it. A handful of others manage to scatter themselves somewhere between #45 and #100. The rest? Solidly in the bottom half, and predominating in the bottom half of that bottom half.
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For instance, I used to listen almost exclusively to NPR and one day it sort of popped in my head and I started noticing that they seemed just infatuated with any story, even weak ones, that came out of Africa.
I could go on but won't.
Any thoughts?
Yes.
Any particular reason you're ignoring the fact that Africa is, by far, the poorest country in the world?
Any particular reason that you're labelling the fact that stories about extreme poverty which focus on the most extremely impoverished places to be 'infatuation'?
I just mentioned this to my husband yesterday and I was not thinking about poverty/income but of the predominant race. Is there not anything good that happens in or comes out of Africa? It just seems to me that every story I hear is very critical of Africa as a whole. Maybe if we would have moved all of our US businesses to Africa instead of China............
I just mentioned this to my husband yesterday and I was not thinking about poverty/income but of the predominant race. Is there not anything good that happens in or comes out of Africa? It just seems to me that every story I hear is very critical of Africa as a whole. Maybe if we would have moved all of our US businesses to Africa instead of China............
Yes lots of good things come out of Africa, do some research you will find out alot. The continent is rapidly growing economically, Botswana is considered the most stable country in Africa, Ghana has been stable for ages, many countries are clearing slumps.
I could be biased, or just seeing a bias that isn't there.
I know that extreme poverty and other dire conditions exist in several parts of this planet. It seems...seems...that stories originating in Africa get reported disproportionately. Do they?
For instance, I used to listen almost exclusively to NPR and one day it sort of popped in my head and I started noticing that they seemed just infatuated with any story, even weak ones, that came out of Africa.
I could go on but won't.
Any thoughts?
Yes, Africa and the middle east cause of people like Obama (African) and other Americans with ties to those places, make it so. Personally I think America should stay out of foreign affairs.
Yes, Africa and the middle east cause of people like Obama (African) and other Americans with ties to those places, make it so. Personally I think America should stay out of foreign affairs.
Of course it's because of Obama.........it can't be because out of the 20 poorest countries in the world, Africa has 17 of them and 9 out of the top 10. I agree that we should stay out of foreign affairs but if we are going to throw money around the globe, it would be nice to see it spent alleviating suffering instead of lining politician's pockets or subsidizing wars.
Actual poverty and death figures are impossible to calculate in Africa and other poverty stricken parts of the world because poor people often go uncounted. However, malaria, AIDS, and famine definitely put Africa at the top of the deaths per capita list.
I could be biased, or just seeing a bias that isn't there.
I know that extreme poverty and other dire conditions exist in several parts of this planet. It seems...seems...that stories originating in Africa get reported disproportionately. Do they?
For instance, I used to listen almost exclusively to NPR and one day it sort of popped in my head and I started noticing that they seemed just infatuated with any story, even weak ones, that came out of Africa.
I could go on but won't.
Any thoughts?
There are over a billion people on the continent of Africa, meaning approximately 1/7 people live there. So you would expect the continent to get some coverage.
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Originally Posted by 2nd trick op
Afrca (and some parts of Asia and Indonesia) represent the "last frontier" in the advance of human progress and, by default, of a global culture -- regardless of how that culture is defined, or how the individual participants regard it.
It's not only the least developed continent, it's a battleground between the process of Enlightenment and the enforcement of Absolutes. It has no tested pluralistic democracies within its boundaries and won't have any for a long time to come, but an unprecedented venture in that process is underway in (not suprisingly) South Africa, which also possesses the resources and infrastucture to sustain it.
The rest, like always, is a crapshoot.
Umm, what?
I have literally no idea what your first paragraph means.
Your second paragraph is very flawed after the first clause. There are pluralistic democracies in Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Benin, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, and Zambia.
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Originally Posted by P London
Yes lots of good things come out of Africa, do some research you will find out alot. The continent is rapidly growing economically, Botswana is considered the most stable country in Africa, Ghana has been stable for ages, many countries are clearing slumps.
Agreed.
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Originally Posted by Jay100
Yes, Africa and the middle east cause of people like Obama (African) and other Americans with ties to those places, make it so. Personally I think America should stay out of foreign affairs.
In my opinion Africa is probably given less attention than it deserves. Some areas of Africa face enormous challenges yet get relatively little attention. Also, we never hear about African success stories at all.
Afrca (and some parts of Asia and Indonesia) represent the "last frontier" in the advance of human progress and, by default, of a global culture -- regardless of how that culture is defined, or how the individual participants regard it.
It's not only the least developed continent, it's a battleground between the process of Enlightenment and the enforcement of Absolutes. It has no tested pluralistic democracies within its boundaries and won't have any for a long time to come, but an unprecedented venture in that process is underway in (not suprisingly) South Africa, which also possesses the resources and infrastucture to sustain it.
The rest, like always, is a crapshoot.
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Originally Posted by TheCityTheBridge
Umm, what?
I have literally no idea what your first paragraph means.
It means merely that the educational, infrastructural, and economic developments which chracterize a mature society aren't as fully established in the African continent .... yet. No more and no less.
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Your second paragraph is very flawed after the first clause. There are pluralistic democracies in Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Benin, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, and Zambia.
The commonly-acccepted definition of a "tested" pluralistic demcracy is one where the flow of power between recognized political parties, and exclsively by free elections, has been unimpeded for 100 years or more.
Only about 15 nations meet this test; Ireland will join the group next year. No African nation will join it for quite a while, but if it's any consolation, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portual also don't qualify.
I have no doubt that some African nations are moving in the right direction; I've met a number of people who prove it. But historians apply a strict standard for good reason.
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I agree that we should stay out of foreign affairs but if we are going to throw money around the globe, it would be nice to see it spent alleviating suffering instead of lining politician's pockets or subsidizing wars.
