Your final media essay should discuss media coverage of a specific topic related to the African continent. This paper should have an international component. This means that you might consider how a newspaper (or newspapers) from a country outside of Africa views an African issue. Alternatively, you might consider how an African newspaper reports on a global issue of concern to Africa.
You should begin by reviewing 5-7 newspaper articles on your topic. You may ultimately decide to focus on a smaller number of articles for your paper.
A key component of this assignment will be a critical reflection on the issues of representation that we have discussed thus far this semester. Begin the paper by providing relevant historical context. To do so, you should use academic texts that address your chosen topic. This might be either sources that we have read this semester or outside sources as appropriate.
Then, think about your assessment of the media sources. Ask yourself: Why is there a particular narrative about your chosen topic emerging from a particular country or community? To do this, you need to consider the sources you are are using. Are they from mainstream newspapers in the U.S., Europe, or Africa? Are they from newspapers that serve specific communities in a particular country?
You might discuss issues related to the author's consideration of the broader social, historical, and economic contexts; whether or not the author overgeneralizes; and whether or not the author focuses on Western actors, among a range of other issues.
Make sure to develop a thesis statement for the paper that addresses some of these issues. The Catherine Besteman article provides a good model of the kind of arguments you might make.
Include a bibliography that lists all of your sources. Please refer to this guide for the format for your citations: https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html Links to an external site.
Pay special attention to the instructions regarding citations for newspaper articles. Here's one of the examples:
Farhad Manjoo, “Snap Makes a Bet on the Cultural Supremacy of the Camera,” New York Times, March 8, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/technology/snap-makes-a-bet-on-the-cultural-supremacy-of-the-camera.htmlLinks to an external site..
Your paper should be 7-8 pages, double-spaced, in a 12-point font.