Are artists favouring international media over local ones, and is it affecting African/Nigerian journalism?

Earlier this week Time’s magazine released an article rating Tiwa Savage’s Celia as one of the top ten albums of 2020, a moment of celebration turned sour when a Nigerian media outlet wrote a highly unnecessary rebuttal.

The author did more than criticize, his comments all but vilifying the artist and foreign media in the process; it was critical at best, inflammatory and derogatory at worst.

However, something in that article caught my attention, and it was how African artists, particularly Nigerian ones, seem to favour international press over national ones.

He made a point that African artists often feel like foreign media give a greater representation of what they have achieved, and this is shown in the way they crave foreign media endorsement aka mungo parking.

“Mungo Parking: is an act of gentrifying, tokenizing and renaming or repurposing existing African pop-culture concepts into what they are not. Usually, this is based on agenda, paid promotion, misinformation and/or ignorance by foreign media.”

Now whilst this is a blanket statement, there is some truth in there, having spent the last half-decade of my life working in the entertainment industry, I have seen first hand how Nigerian artists have spurned local or national media in favour of international media interviews or profiles.

From cancelling interviews at local radio and tv stations at the very last minute to asking for compensation in return; this manifests in so many ways.

Local media and grassroots press play an important role in the building of a relationship between artists and their core fan base, people often look to these media houses as trusted sources of credible information; and this is because they’ve often had prolonged one on one contact and tell stories from a perspective of knowledge and the reality of what it means to be an artist in their home country.

Foreign media don’t always do the best job of telling African stories, not necessarily on purpose, but there’s a difference between research and being steeped in the culture, we have seen this time and time again.

Over the last few years, Nigerian artists have garnered attention from all around the globe, and international media publications have taken an interest: From Complex to The Breakfast Club, The Daily Show to Jimmy Fallon.

Unfortunately, we’ve also seen the misrepresentation of facts in some of the stories they tell; like Vogue naming Wavy the creator as the creator of ‘shaku shaku’, or the New Yorker’s short piece on Teni’s rise, or the BBC naming one artist as the ‘facilitator’ of the #Endsars movement; stories are often being told from an elitist and tokenistic perspective that doesn’t always do the truth justice.

When international journalists (who are not African) do profile interviews, it’s often easier to spin a web that depicts them in a great (or even negative) light; but that’s not necessarily true. They sometimes leave out vital pieces of information and don’t always fact check that the information they’ve garnered is a hundred per cent accurate.

Which makes me wonder, is this the reason why some artists feel like international press coverage is more favourable? Is it the ability to tell stories that they prefer, is it the larger reach in free publicity, or is it just plain disregard for Grassroot press?

Or is it that the press in Nigeria are sometimes tactless in how they tell stories? Or that they don’t appreciate the artist until international media starts to celebrate them? e.g. Burna x Yé x Coachella. Or is that they aren’t always objective and are often biased in choosing who they write about in a positive light?

Whilst international publications are great for exposure, prioritizing foreign media is beginning to create a gap between local media houses/ journalists and artists who were once loved and revered.

But the negative impact is greater; it means that stories that need to be told are falling through the cracks. Of course one might argue that with PR agencies and social media, artists don’t need media houses, especially when they can engage directly with their fans; and whilst that is true, for any artist to continue to stay relevant and be portrayed in a positive light, it’s vital for both the artist and their representatives to maintain relationships with the media, both home and abroad.

Africa needs illuminating journalism that innovates and supports the modernizing of the continent, and to do this; we need to be able to tell our stories objectively, and everyone has to play their part.

Lastly, stay up to date with all you need to know about African music at SOA, right here.

Are artists favouring international media over local ones, and is it affecting African/Nigerian journalism?