BY KFLEEYESUS ABEBE
If anything, Ethiopians have known beginning from last year is the true color of western media. For long and for many, western media outlets were considered to be the zenith of journalism and benchmark of impartial reporting. Anything CNN, BBC, Aljazeera, Reuters, and others report was thought to be all true. But, the way the so-called liberal media outlets have been covering the situations in Ethiopia has already unmasked their real identity. And, Ethiopians have come to know the bias and incredibility of the media.
These media giants have been spreading false news and tarnishing the image of the country, creating wrong narrative and misleading the international community.
Ironically, the media outlets have attempted to misinform Ethiopians who have a firsthand observation of the country’s situation. Over the last few weeks, the media have gone to a new low openly entertaining fake stories. The recent CNN report that the capital is under threat of the terrorist groups became a pinnacle of fake news and nadir of unprofessionalism. The way the global media reported Ethiopia’s current situation is leaving a lasting debacle in the history of the western media.
The actions of the media outlets have nothing to do with the lack of information and source. There were several efforts by the government and concerned people for the international media to get the facts straight. The media in some instances have even got access to report from the frontline, and notable politicians and influential people tried to give information on the genesis of the war to the media and there were social media campaigns but these all efforts were to no avail.
Most of the western media chose to give their audiences a pack of lies, fabricated stories and also tried to confuse and incite violence inside the country. Therefore, Ethiopians recently held a large gathering denouncing the fake reporting of western media outlets regarding Ethiopia. They say they won’t be intimidated or confused by these baseless reportings but they demand the western media to correct their inaccurate reports. Like Ethiopians, foreign journalists are taken by surprise by the bad reporting of their fellow journalists.
Ordinary foreigners, experts, and media practitioners in different times challenged the lies of western media. Canadian Historian Jeff Pearce American international security expert Ann Fitz-Gerald and Ethio- American journalist Hermela Aregawi are notable people who are strong critics of western media reporting and are still challenging the media by on making spot documentaries, investigative reports, and thorough analyses. These people have been sadden for Ethiopia to be the victim of fake news and offered their expertise and resource to avert the attack.
When the propaganda warfare has now intensified, more and more foreigners especially foreign journalists are joining Ethiopians in exposing and condemning western media reporting. Just recently, Ugandan and Kenyan journalists have foiled most western media attempts to depict Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital as a conflict zone.
Well-known Ugandan journalist Daniel Lutaaya said he was concerned to travel to Ethiopia after watching CNN and other media outlets report about the country. However, on his arrival, he found everything is completely different from the media’s report. Thus he tweeted this: “Watching CNN, and other Int’l media before my flight. I thought I was going to a War Zone. Was in Addis yesterday. In Adama now but there is nothing. No bullets, No tension bars are open. No roadblocks. There is actually more military presence in Kampala than in Addis Ababa.” A Kenyan journalist Sigoa Dennis also exposed lies of international media writing on his timeline: “on the streets of Adama, Ethiopia. What is on the ground and what is reported and analyzed by International media is quite different.”
Speaking to Oromia Broadcasting Network, Daniel Lutaaya said that the western media failed to maintain its objectivity. Their reports are much sensationalized and recently they have become unfounded lies. “It is quite unfortunate the media which I believe in and I serve as journalist myself is being used in such away. I think there is a need to be very objective while looking at the Ethiopian story just like many other crises everywhere in the world. I have been here for three days now. I haven’t faced any sort of insecurity. You can see I am in the middle of the road at night. That isn’t something you can’t do in Uganda because we have a curfew in place. For me, it has been an eye-opener. The media was painting a different picture from what we actually have on the ground. The western media reporting is unfounded. It doesn’t speak about the fact on the ground.”
Another Ugandan Journalist Dennis Duke urges African journalists to have the upper hand in their stories. “It is shocking! It takes us to development journalism and objective reporting. Because you just don’t go out there and misinform the public, misinform the world. Because there are consequences are dire. If you have tourists planning to come here, they would cancel it thinking the situation is where they going they will be at risk. But in a real sense, there is nothing wrong with the ground. Life is normal. So, I think going forward we should focus on spreading the good news. Our local media houses have to write the African story.”
These African journalists recommended international media outlets to cover right from the ground. Daniel says: “The global media needs to come and report from Ethiopia. You can’t report about a country where you aren’t. That is why when I came, I am seeing and now I can write a story that is informed by what I have seen on the ground.” Dennis is also the same. He said: “let them send their reporters here and look at the situation rather than reporting about Ethiopia from New York. That isn’t how it works.”
Present at the gathering held last Sunday, American Journalist Bob Schlehuber, who is working for Sputnik, expressed his regret for the western media’s wrong reports about the situation in Ethiopia. He said: “I am in Addis Ababa for the last four days. It is a beautiful city with beautiful people. The reports of most western media part in or out are inaccurate. The west media for many reasons they are supporting the TPLF and, talking about the security situation in Addis Ababa that isn’t accurate. Addis Ababa right now is peaceful with tens of thousands of people coming out of Meskel Square and supporting Ethiopian government, supporting democratically elected and legitimate government. I had a wonderful stay. I met wonderful people while I was in Addis.”
The journalist also exposed atrocities and human suffering TPLF has inflicted on Amhara people but left unreported by most western media. “I was in Bahir Dar the last two days. In Bahir Dar, it is incredibly desperate, extremely bad. There are thousands of people that have fled from Kombolcha, Dessie as far as Afar. People have walked hundreds of kilometers. Right now, they don’t have access to food because of TPLF’s aggression that have pushed people to leave their homes. While I was in Bahir Dar talking to Amhara people, they told me stories of their houses being looted, people being kidnapped, people being raped and stolen and taken. It is quite tragic to hear TPLF has done to people of Amhara and Afar.”
As Journalist Bob Schlehuber emphasized western media are telling lies in fact people in the capital are living peacefully without alienation especially the Tigrayan people.
“I don’t think the people of Addis hate the people of Tigray. I think they want there to be one Ethiopia together. And what we’re reading in the Western media is not true. Reading the New York Times, reading the Washington Post, CNN, BBC, Bloomberg, all of them are pushing lies and falsehoods. And I’ve seen so many false reports from journalists in Nairobi, Kenya, and others who are not here in Addis Ababa.
Though it may not be the first time, but most of the western media have now failed being time to keep its journalistic objectivity. Not only Ethiopians, anyone who happens to be in Ethiopia, like journalists who gave their testimonies above, can see that the western media reporting is quite opposite to what is on the ground. These media outlets are now failing the world to have actual understanding of the situation in Ethiopia. Hence, the fear is that any action or decision that is taken based on such reporting would be uniform and counterproductive.
The Ethiopian Herald November 10/2021
