The article I found describes a new program in Dakar that brings ten students from all over Africa to learn and develop their skills in animation. It is a private school funded by the European Union to help enhance the creativity and media in present day Africa. These students are found from all parts of Africa including Senegal, Madagascar, and Congo. These students are learning about computer software and design techniques among other things. They are using techniques and mediums from other parts of the world like Asia, Europe, and even the United States. When the students graduate they will return to their home countries and only a few of the students will receive additional funding to create their own startup and continue to produce creative content.
I believe this is an important article because it finally puts Africa and its culture and people in a good light in the media. We usually see Africa in the news for negative happenings and situations but this story is quite the opposite. This article highlights the progress and innovation that’s taking place in Africa, which is something that us casual news viewers rarely see. Articles like these will start to remove stereotypes and generalizations about Africa over time.
This article is meant to give off hopeful and positive vibes to its viewers. Africa is rarely in the news for something positive, let alone media innovation. This gives us a real account of the type of development and sophistication that the country beholds. Adjovi gives an uplifting tone to the story and provides a sense of relevance, in the way that Africa isn’t technologically absent and the fact that some of their animation will eventually make its way to other parts of the globe. I believe the tone of the video is important to delivering the message.
The source of the story is BBC news Africa. BBC is one of the largest news corporations in the world and is very reliable in terms of sources and information. BBC is not very biased either, never subjecting their own political influences on their stories.
I believe that BBC does carefully choose what words and phrases to use. BBC tries to uplift the image of Africa and in doing so, must leave out words that are normally used to portray Africa. I believe they also use a hopeful tone to enhance their story and message. I believe they try to cater to the western media to change the opinions and views of Africa. They create a tone that Africa is a technologically sound country, which is contrary to many peoples’ beliefs.
This video was pretty eye opening for me. I can say I’ve been pretty ignorant when it comes to Africa and I was surprised to see this type of innovation and creativity going on in Africa. My purview has been limited to the sad and violent events that come from Africa. Watching a video like this changes my perspective of the country and makes me curious of all the developments and innovation occurring in Africa.
Embracing Animation in Africa. Perf. Laeila Adjovi. BBC News Africa, 2014. BBC News. 1 Sept. 2014. Web. 02 Sept. 2014.
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