Boko Haram Attack in Nigeria–Questions About The Press’ Response

The extremist terror organization Boko Haram attacked the town of Baga, Nigeria on Friday, January 3rd, 2015. And while Nigerian security responded, Boko Haram was said to have killed up to 2,ooo people in their attacks. According to reports, “District head Baba Abba Hassan said most victims are children, women and elderly people who could not run fast enough when insurgents drove into Baga, firing rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles on town residents.”

With various parts of Northeast Nigeria already in a state of emergency, they are asking for more government support to fight this group. Overall, “Around 1.5 million people have been displaced by the violence, many of whom will not be able to vote in the polls under Nigeria’s current electoral laws” (Mark, 2015 (The Guardian)).

With these horrendous attacks, many people are asking why there has not been significant media attention to these events? Maeve Shearlaw of The Guardian asks this question, comparing the global media response of that in Nigeria with the terror attacks in France. Quoting from the Guardian piece, Shearlaw writes that “[r]eporting in northern Nigeria is notoriously difficult; journalists have been targeted by Boko Haram, and, unlike in Paris, people on the ground are isolated and struggle with access to the internet and other communications. Attacks by Boko Haram have disrupted connections further, meaning that there is an absence of an online community able to share news, photos and video reports of news as it unfolds.”

And while there are journalistic challenges, the argument has been made that there should exist much more attention on this massacre, given the gravity of the event. And while some are pointing fingers at the West, Shearlaw cites Simon Allison, who wrote on this in the Daily Maverick, saying that not only did the “world stay silent,” but that “[w]orse, Africa stayed silent. There’s plenty of hypocrisy on this continent, but the worst egregious example of recent times was the presence of Gabonese president Ali Bongo Ondimba at the massive solidarity march in Paris on Sunday. Here was an African dictator campaigning for freedom of speech in France, while vehemently and at times violently clamping down on a free press at home. Here was an African leader taking the time to stand in support of the French victims, while ignoring the many more on his own continent.

He makes a point worth reflecting upon. He argues that “It may be the 21st century, but African lives are still deemed less newsworthy – and, by implication, less valuable – than western lives.”

If this is happening, we need to ask why the media is not giving attention to this crisis. If there are any sort of reporting biases that are existing in this case, we must reflect on the reasons as to why this is taking place. For, many argue that is is much more than lack of information; people are raising the question about racial and ethnic biases with regards to which stories receive more attention in the press. We do see some taking to social media to point out their frustration with the lack of attention on the attack and mass killings in Baga.

It is critical that we treat all human lives lost as a profound tragedy, regardless of where the killings take place. Human rights are fundamental for all peoples, and violations of these rights should be equally troubling, wherever they may be occurring.