Mandela, media and culture:Is ‘desecrating’ Africa worth it?

More than 2000 years ago a handful of guards soaked wine on a sponge to squeeze into Christ’s mouth as He groaned at his last hours; today, hundreds of cameras are pointed toward every whiff of movement with a Mandela-like identity to it.As unAfrican as it sounds, the world media has been unabashedly falling over themselves with ghoulish behaviour as they clamour to break the news of South Africa anti-apartheid icon Nelson Madida Mandela’s passing on.In December, last year, The Times of South Africa reported that for years international news agencies have been pointing hidden cameras at the frail legend’s village home. The story, “Madiba spied on” said the Associated Press and Reuters had installed at least three CCTV cameras at a house opposite Mandela’s in Qunu, eastern Cape province. The news agencies mentioned did not deny the allegations completely, although AP’s Paul Colford did deny the cameras they installed are for surveillance.“Along with other media, the AP has preparedness around Mandela’s eventual passing. The AP cameras were not switched on and would only be used in the event of a major news story involving the former president. We had similar preparedness outside the Vatican ahead of Pope John Paul II’s passing,” Colford told The Guardian.That was two years ago. Recent invents have no doubt superseded what Colford talked about. It is probable that more secret cameras have since been installed around Mandela, including at the Pretoria hospital to which the freedom struggle icon, 94, is admitted.In a world that has seen many deaths of prominent world figures, Mandela’s is arguably the one that has generated dysphoria and euphoria in equal measure. But the CCTV cameras, camping and other overboard actions have cut a grotesque shadow between decency and respect for the dead on the one hand, and an increasingly commercialised media trying to outcompete each other for what is will eventually come to pass.The last time the media stalked the twilights of an iconic figure was in 2004 at the Vatican. Then, Pope John Paul II, arguably the most famous of the contemporary pontiffs, lay on his deathbed. Until this moment, the world had not known about the media being vultures on the dying. It later emerged that CNN had a correspondent holed up in the Vatican City for years tracking down Pope John Paul II, with the desire to be the first to break the news of his death.For a decade, Italian correspondent Alessio Vinci was reportedly assigned to dedicate an eye on the Pope from a vintage apartment overlooking the Vatican rented by the cable news network. Less than 24 hours before John Paul breathed his last on April 2, 2005, CNN run with an April Fools’ Day story, whose intro was more than a tabloid fodder. “Pope John Paul II edged closer to death Saturday morning—his breathing shallow and his heart and kidneys failing—as the world awaited the conclusion of his medical crisis,” it said. Irresponsible, invasion of privacyThe bereaved, their friends and relatives, will always find themselves pried on. Such media attention is stressing, to say the least.Nelson Mandela’s daughter, Makaziwe, yesterday reiterated the need for the family’s privacy to be respected: “Other people want to lecture us on how we should behave, and what we should do. Really, it’s our dad, it’s the children’s grandfather. We’ve never had him in our life for the better part of our years. This is in a sense quality and sacred time for us, and I would expect the world to really back off and leave us alone.”Al Jazeera Africa correspondent Haru Mutasa, among the journalists camped in Pretoria to break the news, called the drama a walk of shame. Writing in her blog published on the Al Jazeera web site, she said: “People living in the area hurl insults like “what are you doing here in the first place?” or “who told you vultures he was dying this time? That’s what your parents sent you to school for, now you look like imbeciles, stupid vultures with egg on your faces.”Ugandan journalist Benon Herbert Oluka, now on a sabbatical with Reuters in Johannesburg, South Africa, joked that many editors have already mulled over the death of Mandela for ages now.“The obituaries are written and just waiting to be dusted up and new dates fixed. Columns have also been written and, apparently, some world leaders already have pre-recorded messages expressing their ‘shock and sadness’,” Oluka said.Part of the justification for the prying media on the Mandela ailment is that he is a public figure. Never mind that Madiba officially retired from public life nine years ago–on June 2, 2004. Still, some argue that retirement from public life does not change his legendary status. His passing on when it finally comes remains the biggest news the media cannot afford to be caught off guard on. Every media house would die to have the scoop—and let the rest follow the ghoulish pace set, says Dominique Nduhura, a media lecturer at the University of Rwanda’s School of Journalism and Communication.“If it is mainstream media, then that is worth it. Mainstream media is duty-bound to be accurate and factual in reporting. If that is lacking then that is irresponsible service to the public,” Emmnuel Mugisha, the executive director of the Media High Council said.Last week, the majority of the journalists started abandoning their camping. Some even booked flights back home, while others from agencies with hefty perks stayed on. Commercialism has ensured that billions will be expended by world media to break news of the passing of an icon.

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Mandela, media and culture:Is ‘desecrating’ Africa worth it?