(NYASATIMES MALAWI) Obamamania hits Malawi press

Obamamania hits Malawi press
09 November, 2008 11:12:00
Kaliati: Africa must emulate the American example

It is rare for a news event happening thousands of kilometres away across the Atlantic to make newspaper front pages in Malawi. But no t with the US elections especially as an African/American (Barrack Obama) was a major contender for the White House.

'It's Obama!' screamed the headline in The Nation newspaper during the week, dedicating its entire front page, plus five more pages inside, to the victory of Democrat Obama over his Republican challenger John McCain.

The daily carried the stories from international news wires but had its own input from local analysts.

'Bingu pens Obama', The Nation also reported, announcing that President Bingu wa Mutharika did not want to miss out on the action.

It said that Mutharika had to recall the famous phrase -- 'I have a dream' -- by Rev. Martin Luther King Jnr in 1963 which continued "after hurdles of slaverly t hat Africa passed through to develop America, one day black people will take a lead in America.

The Malawi media was not oblivious that its own election was just under eight mo nths away.

The official Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) reported Information and Civic Education Minister Patricia Kaliati as congratulating both Obama and McCain and urging "Africa to emulate the American example".

Kaliati, as monitored on MBC, said had it been in Africa McCain - instead of congratulating Obama - could have rushed to the courts "to try and quash the clear l andslide victory".

The government spokesman said Obama was magnanimous in his victory by praising M cCain's life-long service to the American people while the loser was statesman-l i ke in lauding the victor's flawless campaign.

Most of the reportage from the US elections was from the newswires but, with the help of the United States Information Sevice in Malawi, a number of Malawian jo u rnalists were despatched to the US to cover the elections.

The weekly Malawi News editor Steve Nhlane was one of them and in his column, "Saturday with Steven Nhlane", the veteran journalist reported "The election of Ba r ack Obama as the first African/American is a symphony about the sea-change that has swept through the mindset of many Americans over the years largely due the civil rights movement there."

Veteran journalist Edward Chitsulo, who edits The Nation, did not miss out on the Obamamania.

Writing in his widely-read column, Raw Stuff, Chitsulo said "To me, (Obama's) victory means one thing: it is possible to succeed, and that success has no colour".

Writing in the newly-launched weekly, Weekend Express, editor Isaac Masingati observes that Obama had triumphed amidst a negative campaign over his name and his supposed Islamic ties.

He quoted Obama as having dismissed his detractors when he said: "I have lived in Muslim countries, even while I am Christian, so I know how they are thinking a b out issues".

Of course, the Malawi media did not ignore local issues.

Preparation for Malawi's own '09 elections still made headlines, so did the much-touted fertiliser subsidy programme.

But Obama and his feat were the dominant issue.--Pana