The Sub-Saharan African image in the German elite press 1979 - 1999 : a case study of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Die Welt, and Neues Deutschland

Abstract

This research is an attempt to assess how a Western culture like Germany constructs and projects a Sub-Saharan African image in her press-newspapers. To achieve this research goal the Sub-Saharan African image is traced across pre-colonial travel / merchants narratives, colonial landscapes, international politics of communist and capitalist ideologies. Theoretically, international and intercultural communication, newsmaking theories, and quantitative media content analysis were employed. Three main hypotheses were formulated to gain insight into the trend of the Sub-Saharan African image between 1979 and 1999. This twenty years study on the German press would assist in academic and international relation discussions on the coverage of Third World Countries by the Western press.