What about Africa?

This afternoon I decided to spend a little time reading about everything that’s going on in the world. I had been reading about the elections on CNN.com, so I decided I might as well check up on the rest of the world on the same website. (CNN isn’t my usual source for news, and you'll soon see why I prefer the BBC.) Since I do live in Africa, it seemed logical that I start by reading up on the news here. So I went to CNN.com and looked for a link to news on Africa. Sure I saw links to stories about the election aftermath in Kenya, but that wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, so I kept searching. I found Asia and Europe listed clearly at the top of the page (even before the U.S.), but the closest heading or link I could find anywhere on the page for Africa was one labeled World. I clicked but I still didn’t see Africa. So I scrolled down the page, past Asia and Europe (shouldn’t these have their own pages since they were listed separately on the main webpage?), then past the Middle East, then past the Americas, and there, at the very bottom of the page, I found Africa. I clicked on the link, and to say I was disappointed with the news page I found would be an understatement. (You’ll understand my point if you go to CNN.com and compare the Africa page to the U.S. page, or even the Asia or Europe pages.) On the Africa page, there was a list of ten stories, all related to either the aftermath of the Kenyan elections, Libya’s role on the U.N. Security Council or Al Qaeda in Algeria. It’s funny how each of those topics seems to reflect an American interest. Or really, it’s not funny. It’s not funny at all. What does it say about the American media and the American people when, on the website of one of the nation’s leading news providers, it’s easy to find stories about the latest sex tape scandal or Britney Spears but nearly impossible to find articles about the African continent, especially those not directly related to U.S. interests? Is that how little we care about this continent?