Take a Look at the Africa the Media Never Shows You

Screenshot of some of the images found under the hashtag #TheAfricaTheMedia

Screenshot of some of the images found under the hashtag #TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou on Twitter.

The portrayal of Africa by mainstream media, particularly Western media, paints it as a dark, ugly, hopeless place that is ridden with civil war, militant groups, corruption, violation of freedoms, starvation, chaotic urbanisation and utter desperation. This gives people who have never being to Africa a false, misleading impression of the continent.

Africans on Twitter have came together to showcase the beauty, diversity and innovative modern architecture of the continent that Western media rarely show their audiences. It all began with the hashtag #TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou by Twitter user Mango:

Soon, other Twitter users from all over joined in the effort. Here's a sampling of tweets from the campaign.

Nairobi, Kenya:

Antananarivo, Madagascar:

Khartoum, Sudan:

African food:

African weddings:

Limpopo, South Africa:

Somalia:

Lagos, Nigeria:

Uganda:

Côte d'Ivoire,:

Soweto, South Africa:

Traditional African villages:

Aswan, Egypt:

Cape Verde:

There is an increasing yearning among Africans to control their narrative, and the hashtag #TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou is just one example. Sites like Africa is Country and This is Uganda have also come out to challenge portrayal of Africa in mainstream media.

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