Inaccurate media reports are hardly limited to Africa, but there’s a greater chance of international newspapers getting things wrong – and not admitting so – when it comes to the continent, Seay said.
“When most western outlets have just two or three people covering a continent of 11 million square miles, it very easy to make mistakes, even unintentionally. It’s a recipe for disaster in terms of quality of coverage.”
Around half of Africa Check’s investigations are triggered by readers wanting to know anything from the veracity of claims made by pop stars to supposed disease-busting local herbs. Operating out of Lagos and Johannesburg, the not-for-profit organisation funded by grants and individual donations has a team of five full-timers working alongside volunteers and freelancers, and hopes to expand to Kenya and Senegal next.
Anton Harber, a highly-regarded South African former investigative journalist and co-founder of the project, explained its ultimate aim. “I imagine a situation in which every public figure and journalist feels nervous about what they say or write because Africa Check might just catch them out.”
Get your Africa facts right: websites seek to stem flow of misinformation | World news | The Guardian
September 30, 2014
Articles on Africa Africa, Gambia, misinformation, peter singhateh, Peter Singhatey, Responsible Journalism, West Africa Leave a comment
′Deadliest year′ for migrants crossing the Mediterranean: IOM | News | DW.DE | 29.09.2014
September 30, 2014
Uncategorized Africa, Gambia, Illegal Migrants, Migrant deaths, peter singhateh, Peter Singhatey Leave a comment
′Deadliest year′ for migrants crossing the Mediterranean: IOM | News | DW.DE | 29.09.2014.
More than 3,000 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean this year, according to the International Organization for Migration. A report has been released showing more than 40,000 migrant deaths since 2000.
Plight of the migrant one of most critical issues of our time
September 30, 2014
Articles on Africa Africa, Gambia, Illegal Migrants, People & Society, peter singhateh Leave a comment
Plight of the migrant one of most critical issues of our time.
“…In the space of a week 150,000 refugees from Syria streamed into Turkey, adding to the million-plus refugees Turkey has accommodated in the three-and-a-half years since the devastating conflict in Syria began. In one 48-hour period more than 60,000 Syrians came over the border. In 2014 the number of people seeking asylum will hit a 20-year high, according to the UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency. That 20-year anniversary relates to April 28th and 29th, 1994 on the Rwandan-Tanzanian border, when 250,000 people walked across the bridge at Rusumo Falls, as victims of genocide floated past in the river below.
As Syrian Kurds carried what little they had left into Turkey, the sea that borders the west of the country was in the midst of its own nightmare. The New York Times reported this month that at a funeral in Sicily of 18 migrants who died trying to reach Europe from Africa, Msgr Angelo Giurdanella said in his homily: “The opposite of love is not hatred, but indifference.” Around 120,000 migrants have been rescued by Italian ships in the Mediterranean this year. More than 2,200 have died trying to cross the Mediterranean this year. In a few days in mid-September, at least 750 migrants were feared to have died trying to make the crossing. To put those deaths in context in terms of media coverage, the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster in January, 2012 claimed 32 lives. Nearly 70 times that number of migrants have died in the Mediterranean area trying to reach Europe so far this year…”
Hundreds feared dead as boat sinks off Libya – Middle East – Al Jazeera English
September 30, 2014
Articles on Africa Africa, Gambia, Illegal Migrants, People & Society, peter singhateh, Peter Singhatey 1 Comment
Hundreds feared dead as boat sinks off Libya – Middle East – Al Jazeera English.
A boat filled with up to 250 migrants heading for Europe has sunk off the Libyan coast and many passengers have died, a spokesman for the Libyan navy has said.
Only 36 people, including three women, have been rescued after the boat sunk near Tajoura, east of the capital Tripoli, said navy spokesman Ayub Qassem.
“There are so many dead bodies floating in the sea,” Qassem told the Reuters news agency, adding that the under-equipped coastguard had few resources to search for survivors.
Migrants have been streaming out of Libya in boats in rising numbers for years, on their way to Europe.
So far in 2014, more than 100,000 have reached Italy’s shores, the Italian government said this week…
Peter "Just Loves Flying" 