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Over the past 30 years, scholars have criticized the propensity of the international media to reproduce damaging and racist stereotypes about Africa. How do foreign correspondents, who are key actors in the production of Africa's media image, position themselves in relation to this criticism? Based on 35 interviews conducted with correspondents in Kenya and South Africa between 2013 and 2017, I find that many correspondents recognize the negative contributions of the news industry to representational Othering, thereby agreeing with the general tenets of the criticism. This paper is an in-depth exploration of this phenomenon, which I call postcolonial reflexivity. I outline the features of this postcolonial reflexivity, discuss its impact on journalistic practices, and explore the reasons for its prevalence among correspondents. Overall, the research contributes to bridging the gap between the textual orientation of postcolonial studies and the inclination for analyzing production practices in journalism studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the private sector participation in the public service broadcasting in Kenya. The first commercial radio station in the country was Kenyaradio which catered to Europeans and Asians from 1928 to 1959. African Broadcasting Service (ABS), which was entirely supported by government appropriation, was established during the Second World War. The programs broadcasted by ABS were educative and informative, and intended to gain public approval for government policies. The Kenyaradio and ABS were consolidated in at the end of 1950s.