Kigali, Rwanda 13 July 2016 - The African Editors forum (TAEF) has called on media houses on the continent to devise innovative ways through which they can tell the African story instead of over relying on western international media.

At the ongoing 27th African Union (AU) Summit taking place in Kigali, senior editors from different media outlets across the continent, met in a forum where they discussed solutions to a number of challenges affecting the dissemination of productive stories that help propel the continent towards inclusive growth.

One of the biggest challenges highlighted at the forum, was the consistent propaganda and negative propaganda portrayed in some international media about Africa.
Sadly, this negative narration by international media about Africa is sometimes bought by some African media houses, according to many editors.

“One of the strategies we have is to work with AU more in order to have our resolutions implemented at a continental level. We hope that by the need of the summit, our message to African media is loud and clear; that we need to own our story and not let

Africa’s image be distorted by western media,” Emrakeb Asefa, the Secretary General TAEF said at the conference.Emrakeb further stated that a number of proposals specifically on media leadership programs are in the offing, where practitioners from Africa can be trained in the coverage of issues across the continent, for them to tell the good African human interests stories, which will need sustainable financing.

She also called on media practitioners to focus on providing analytical stories that are critical in finding solutions to some pertinent issues like armed conflicts, as well as champion women and rights.

The Managing editor of The New Times, a daily paper in Rwanda, added that media practitioners, leaders and policymakers should always dialogue and bring to the fore pressing and pertinent issues faced by African media.

“Media owners and practitioners, policy makers, democracy activists and citizens should all be involved in the process of creating the necessary synergies and solutions for the continent’s challenges. We as the fourth estate have a big role to play in showing the positive side of Africa, which is often ignored,” he said.

Kennedy Ndahiro, the head of Rwanda’s Editor’s Forum, noted that African media has a prerogative to push for the full realization of the “Africa we want, not the Africa they want”.
“We cannot let people speak on our behalf decade after decade. African media has what it takes to lead headlines and show what is indeed happening in Africa. We cannot wait for international wires and channels, which sometimes don’t even understand the African context, to lead the way,” he said.

Created in 2003, TAEF is composed of more than 200 African journalists in broadcasting and social media and printing.

The forum which is slated to sit for the next two days at the 27th AU Summit in Kigali, will celebrate a number of renowned African journalists, as well as offer media related resolutions to policymakers at the forum.

. Media Contacts:
The African Editors Forum
Directorate of Information and Communication. African Union Commission
E mail: dinfo@africa-union.org
Mr. Mathatha Tsedu
Chairperson of the Board
Manngwe Mining, Suite 105D Lougardia Building, 1262 Emarkment Road
Centurion, 0157, South Africa
Mobile: (27) 0\824540527
Email tsedumathatha6@gmail.com

AU Commission
Mrs. Esther Azaa Tankou
Ag. Director, Directorate of Information and Communication
African Union Commission
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Cell: (251) 911361185
Tel: (251) 11 551 7700 Ext: 2567
Email: YambouE@africa-union.org or esthertankou@yahoo.com

Mr. Vukani Lumumba Mthintso
Advisor to the AUC Chairperson,
African Union Commission
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Cell: (251) 932 089 829
Tel: (251) 11 551 7700 Ext: 2917
Email: MthintsoV@africa-union.org

Mr. Jacob Enoh Eben
Spokesperson of the AUC Chairperson,
African Union Commission
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tel: (251) 11 551 7700 Ext: 2814
Cell: (251) 934 996 893
Email: EnohebenJ@africa-union.org

For further information:
Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@african-union.org I Website: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

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