The image of Africa in the German press (2020-2024)

The subject of the study is the representation of the African continent in the contemporary German press from 2020 to 2024. The object of the research is the publications of leading German media outlets dedicated to Africa and African migrants. The author examines the peculiarities of constructing the image of Africa in German media discourse based on the analysis of global media indices, strategic documents of the Federal Republic of Germany, and publications in the German press. Special attention is given to the relationship between Germany’s official political course on decolonization and equal partnership and the media coverage of African issues. The article investigates the specifics of crisis-humanitarian frames in reporting on the economic and technological potential of the continent. It also analyzes the ways of representing African migrants in the German information space and the use of exogenous markers in the criminalization of their image. The study aims to identify the characteristics of contemporary German media discourse and its influence on the formation of Africa’s image in the European media space. The methodological basis of the research comprises a linguo-pragmatic analysis of media texts, analysis of global media indices and strategic documents of the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as elements of discourse analysis of publications from leading German outlets. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the comprehensive analysis of the representation of Africa and African migrants in the contemporary German press in the context of decolonization policy. It has been established that the German media discourse continues to function within the framework of a neocolonial paradigm, despite the declared political course towards equal partnership. The dominance of crisis-humanitarian frames in the coverage of the African continent has been identified, whereas its economic and technological potential is represented significantly weaker. The predominance of exogenous markers in the criminalization of the image of African migrants within Germany has been proven. It has been established that think tanks act as instruments for legitimizing the foreign policy interests of the Federal Republic of Germany and contribute to the formation of a utilitarian approach to African issues. The author concludes that a dissonance exists between public memory policy and actual journalistic practice. This dissonance hinders the formation of an objective image of Africa and limits the possibilities for it to achieve genuine informational sovereignty in the European media space.