The media and neo-colonisation: examining the relevance of African thought and philosophy in the discourse of decolonisation

Abstract

The media and all that it represents have often had insidious content. People have often used the media to promote their own agenda be it in the area of marketing, finance, governance, entertainment and sports. In Africa, foreign media outlets have dwelled so much on Africa. On most occasions, the media content is fraught with damaging content, which only reinforces earlier existing imagery of Africa as backward continent needing forms of confrontation and actions. This is actually a form of neo-colonisation. In this discussion, we look at the media, an agent of neo- colonisation and how an appreciation of African thought or philosophy can enable a better understanding of the media. The discussion is grounded on cultural norm theory, personal observations of the media landscape in Africa and a brief content analysis of Kwaw Ansah’s Heritage Africa (1989). The discussions conclude that serious regulation of the media is one of the surest ways of reducing the ills in its content and recommends that avenues to promote indigenous knowledge forms through the media be strongly supported to boost African centered media content.