Moky Makura is the Executive Director of Africa No Filter, a donor collaborative working to shift stereotypical narratives about Africa through storytelling, research, and advocacy. With a rich career spanning media, philanthropy, and narrative change, Moky has dedicated decades to challenging the single story told about the continent.
In this episode, Dr. Yemisi Akinbobola sits down with Moky to explore her personal journey from growing up in Lagos to becoming a leading voice in the fight against African stereotypes. Moky traces her awakening back to the 1985 Live Aid concert, a moment that crystallized how Africa was being depicted to the world – not as a diverse continent of 54 countries, but as a monolithic place defined solely by poverty and crisis.
The conversation delves into how African newsrooms themselves perpetuate harmful narratives, with research showing that 81% of stories about other African countries are event-driven coverage of crises, elections, and conflict – often sourced from Western news agencies. Moky challenges journalists to look back at their body of work and ask: what single story have I been telling about my country?
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A significant portion of the discussion focuses on artificial intelligence and its implications for African journalism. Moky introduces the Africa Bias Buster, an AI tool developed by Africa No Filter that doesn’t write stories for journalists, but instead identifies biases in their reporting—flagging missing voices, problematic framing, and stereotypical language. She explains the journey of building this tool, the challenges of training AI with better narratives about Africa, and why existing AI platforms still perpetuate limited, stereotypical views of the continent.
Moky also addresses the changing philanthropic landscape and how Africa No Filter is adapting by seeking African funding and launching Opportunity Africa – a brand campaign positioning the continent through the lens of opportunity, progress, and innovation rather than dependency and crisis. She argues passionately that narrative change is not PR, but a platform on which all development work must stand, because unless Africans believe in their own continent, no intervention will truly succeed.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction: AI, African Newsrooms & Narrative Change
01:25 Meet Moky Makura: From Lagos to Global Narrative Change
03:03 The Live Aid Moment: When Stereotypes Took Hold
06:06 The Power of Narrative: How Stories Shape Beliefs and Actions
10:11 Moky’s Personal Mission: From Living It to Africa No Filter
12:48 African Newsrooms as Part of the Problem
16:02 AI Readiness in African Newsrooms: Challenges and Opportunities
17:56 The Africa Bias Buster: Building an AI Tool for Better Journalism
19:18 Training Journalists: The Story Telling Skills Gap
23:41 Building the Bias Buster: The Technical Journey
29:57 Whose Perspective? Defining Bias from an African Lens
33:35 The Funding Landscape: Philanthropy, Politics & African Media
35:49 Opportunity Africa: Branding the Continent for Young People
38:11 Closing Reflections: The Journey Continues
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Her Media Diary is produced by African Women in Media (AWiM), and this episode is sponsored by Luminate
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