KAS Media Programme Sub-Sahara Africa
The arrival of the coronavirus on the African Continent has caused a rise in demand for serious news. Here are some websites and Twitter accounts that separate fact from fiction and look beyond today’s crisis.
#AfricaBlogging
https://www.africablogging.org/
Political Bloggers from more than a dozen English- and French-speaking countries are commenting continental and national events on africablogging.org. This ranges from a feature about truck drivers refusing to enter the DRC to essays about the necessity to wake up to the dangers that we face.
AfricaCheck
https://africacheck.org/reports/live-guide-all-our-coronavirus-fact-checks-in-one-place/
AfricaCheck, one of the partners of KAS Media Africa, sorts the facts from the falsehoods. They grouped their findings into categories like conspiracy theories, cures and prevention, hoaxes, the odd and bizarre, things that are actually true. They have offices in Johannesburg, Abuja, Dakar and Nairobi.
The Conversation
https://theconversation.com/africa/covid-19
Popular site with accessible articles written by experts. Very varying journalistic quality, but some thoughtful essays and opinion pieces which keep us busy thinking about the future.
www.dailymaverick.co.za
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article_tag/covid-19/
South African digital news site Daily Maverick has created a COVID-19 section - particularly good
for analysis and op-eds from legal, political and social commentators.
Ink Journalism
https://inkjournalism.org/
Botswana has only recently been hit by the coronavirus and the investigative platform Ink looks at the consequences for tourism as well as asks why the country has been seemingly ill-prepared.
In Nigeria almost the whole government seems to have contracted the Virus, which puts serious questions as to who is going to rule now. Our friends from the “Premium Times” are doing an excellent job in updating the public on medical aspects as well as raising questions that lie beyond the current situation.
https://www.premiumtimesng.com/entertainment/naija-fashion/383639-coronavirus-10-fake-news-you-should-ignore.html
Follow the founder of Premium Times on Twitter: @DapsyOly
The countries that were fighting Ebola only recently, like the DRC and Sierra Leone, are turning to experience and history to see if they can draw any parallels between the Ebola epidemic and the coronavirus pandemic in order to soften the blow of the coronavirus.
https://theconversation.com/sierra-leone-is-using-lessons-from-ebola-to-prepare-for-coronavirus-132443
https://congoprofond.net/coronavirus-mungwa-ya-basenzi-et-bodisa-la-recette-des-chefs-coutumiers-pour-vaincre-la-pandemie/
Kenya might have initially seemed slow in its response, but many comments and opinion pieces in the “East African” show the way ahead:
https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/oped/434748-434748-14per3t/index.html
Follow the founder of Uganda’s “Monitor” on Twitter: Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3
You can follow KAS Media Africa on Twitter: @KasMedia, on Facebook : @KAS Media Africa
