Today, through this historic inaugural editorial, we launch our own 100% indigenously-owned media platform. We call it the Global South Media Network (GSMN). As you may deduce from the name, our slant is deliberate and unambiguous: We seek to document and tell stories of ourselves, by ourselves, for ourselves including the people of the global south in particular and the people of the global north. In a nutshell, we intend to distribute our stories globally for the following two main reasons: First and foremost, for far too long the narrative of the global south, or the so-called emerging economies – have been dominated by the powerful Western media outlets whose modus operandi is clearly continuously to project the global south as a place of perennial under-achievers. It is this narrative that the Global South Media Network seeks to turn on its ugly head. We are encouraged in pursuit of our goals by the following African proverb that spurred on the sharp pen of the renowned Nigerian literary giant, Chinua Achebe: “Until the lions have their own historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter.”
We drew our inspiration from this proverb when we crafted our own tag line: “Telling our stories.”
Although we operate out of the capital of South Africa, Pretoria, we intend to establish mutually beneficial networks with like-minded media houses across the globe. In so doing, we hope to enhance the proliferation of the media platforms with compelling content in their varied forms – mainstream, digital and social media, among others.
Our second reason is equally important: We intend to counter the lopsided newsfeeds to millions of unsuspecting people across the global north. We believe that they deserve better than at times the harmful propaganda mischievously packaged as “objective news”.
At best, we hope the Global South Media Network will provide all the consumers of its news offerings with alternative news standpoint that is consciously and deliberately on the side of the voiceless, usually the weak, against the powerful.
We shall strive to produce and provide news content that is fair, balanced and honest. We shall do so within the framework of the need to advance the good that comes out of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East and yes, across the global south. This is a high bar we’ve set for ourselves. With your support, we dare not fail. Welcome on-board, wherever you are. The journey’s truly begun.
