By: Niveja Assalaarachchi, News Writer
A few months ago, two news stories caught my attention. On September 3, a funicular in Portugal’s capital Lisbon derailed, killing 16 people. This horrible tragedy, caused by a steel wire breaking, was reported across the world, with sympathies pouring in for the victims. The very next day, a bus travelling near the mountainous town of Wellawaya in Sri Lanka careened off a cliff, killing 15 people and injuring 16. Two accidents, happening within days of each other, with a nearly identical death toll. Yet, I would bet that most in the West would not know about the accident in Sri Lanka. Tragedies in Western countries often get more media attention and sympathy than ones elsewhere. Why is this? Are we all not human? Do our lives not matter the same? The truth is that the way that news stories are picked up is fundamentally biased. In fact, we might not get coverage of certain stories, all together. Western bias in news coverage of the Global South (GS) sensationalizes human suffering and further aids in the marginalization and misrepresentation of the GS. This actively contributes to the continued economic harm and devaluation of non-Western life.
According to the European Journalism Observatory, the three most popular news channels in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, each dedicated more time to sports news than any GS news story in 2022. This amounted to 8.9%, 10.5%, and 10.8% of airtime from the Australian, German, and Swiss channels to the GS. As the report notes, having news reporting focus on local counties is normal, but the level to which it is skewed is staggering. It is also disgusting, when you consider these channels covered Will Smith slapping Chris Rock more than they covered stories like the Tigray war and the Sri Lankan economic crisis, which happened in the same year. While pop culture moments are notable events, clearly moments of war and socioeconomic collapse, which affect the livelihoods of many millions, should take precedence.
Even when the GS does get covered, it can be harmful as it does not accurately represent current events. According to The Guardian, media coverage on countries in Africa disproportionately report on conflict, corruption, and criminal activities, instead of something like elections — which can help readers fully understand the political landscape abroad.
This bias in reporting economically damages places in the GS, like some countries in Africa, to the tune of £3.2 billion (equivalent to CAD $5.9 billion) in additional debt repayment costs, according to the article. This is because countries that are perceived to be high risk are usually granted loans with a heightened risk premium — which is what financial institutions have been doing with GS countries at a disproportionate rate. And, as you have probably inferred, not only does this lead to a higher dependency on debt — as well as further fiscal instability — but it can severely harm the reputation of groups of people, because words matter. In some cases, the only things Western viewers know about a place are the negative eco-sociopolitical instabilities that it experiences. When a situation is reported poorly, it can often harm the economic sector of the country, as people outside will now not wish to interact with it. Of course this does not yield just negative outcomes. For example, it can be pointed out that such a situation will provide an incentive for those in the GS to start their own media networks, which allows them to be truly heard. Unfortunately, there is an issue that arises from this, as those individuals might be doing so with limited resources — ultimately, making this endeavor hard to get off the ground. But even in the Global North (GN), representation of people of colour (POC) is abysmal, where according to the Media Diversity Institute, only 5% of journalists in the UK are POC. So really, news reporting discriminates in various ways. And we, the viewers, experience a multi level integration of this bias: bias in the stories covered, and in those reporting on the stories.
It’s apparent that the contemporary news cycle follows a neo-colonial cycle. Economic and political colonial systems still control plenty of facets of the societies of former colonies. In the context of the news cycles, information usually flows towards the GN’s media outlets for the consumption of sensationalistic stories, which often does not depict the full picture of the situation. And harps on details that make the GS appear in an unfavorable light, while also portraying issues in a flat manner.
Some might wonder, what’s the point of caring about the events taking place in another spot on this planet? Because these stories are just as valid and deserve to be shared.
By having biased news coverage we miss out on knowing what’s truly happening in the world; which is the whole point of the news cycle — to keep us, viewers, informed.
We should demand that the news sources we use try to break with its biases and cover subjects from throughout the world. By doing this, we all can gain a more authentic viewpoint on what’s happening and not engage in harmful, misinformed stereotypes.
