News stories about African elections often focus on corruption, ethnic tension, and violence, creating a one-dimensional narrative that does not capture the complexities and progress inherent in the continent’s electoral processes. How to Write About an African Election: A Guide is aimed at equipping journalists with tools to tell better stories about African elections to provide a more accurate and balanced view.

On October 9 Mozambique will go to the polls to elect a new president. It will join 19 countries, including South Africa and Ghana, who also had elections this year. Across the world, elections are one of the most widely covered news stories, due to their far-reaching consequences. In Africa, they have also become the defining story of the continent.  

African elections are typically stories of ethnic tension, corruption and stereotypes that portray African elections as chaotic and illegitimate. These stereotypes overlook the complexities and nuances of the continent’s electoral processes. Violence, conflict and corruption are often the dominant themes that feed the narrative of a broken continent and it’s one that has haunted election coverage in Senegal, South Africa, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Egypt and South Sudan. 

How to Write About an African Election: A Guide will disrupt this trend by equipping journalists with the tools to cover African elections beyond stories of rigging, violence and power-hungry politicians. The guide does this by offering a comprehensive guide covering African elections, including practical tips, ethical guidelines, and case studies. 

African journalists play a crucial role in shaping the narrative around elections on the continent. By telling balanced and nuanced stories, they can challenge global stereotypes as elections on the continent repeatedly garner worldwide attention.  

The guide has a checklist of what journalists should stop doing when reporting African elections. These include moving away from the traditional approach of covering elections through a centralized "war room" setup that favors official announcements and pre-scheduled events at the expense of coverage that has depth and engages with the electorate's diverse perspectives; ending the narrow focus on long standing stereotypes that paint Africa as a continent perpetually in crisis and unable to govern itself; and producing election stories that move away from the simplistic villain-hero trope that turns complex political landscapes into a simplistic battle of good versus evil candidates.  

The guide also offers suggestions on what journalists can start doing to tell better stories about African elections. For example using alternative voices including women, people living with disabilities and other underrepresented groups to offer diverse perspectives beyond the agendas set the incumbent and opposition parties; finding the voices of the youth instead of perpetuating the myth of young people as disinterested and disengaged from the electoral process; finding new angles and new stories to broaden  the scope of coverage; using Solutions Journalism to shift the framing of stories from solely highlighting challenges to showcasing initiatives, innovations, and successes; Using new platforms and new content formats to reach younger audiences with engaging, bite-sized content that can enhance election coverage; and addressing the gap in traditional coverage that often targets older demographics, overlooking the media consumption habits of younger audiences.  

 How to Write About an African Election: A Guide is part of Africa No Filter’s advocacy for storytellers to tell better stories about Africa, and for African stories to be told better. It is our hope that journalists will use the guide to rethink the way they tell stories of African elections to provide a more balanced view that highlights the positive aspects of African elections, such as youth engagement, successful transitions of power, and the resilience of democratic processes on the continent. The guide was produced by Fraycollege of Communications.