ABC News 'Discovers' Contested Elections Are a Thing, Sometimes
ABC News dutifully reports on opposition leaders in Cameroon contesting official election results, noting the predictable protests. It’s a classic headline: 'Protests continue.' What ABC News (and most of the mainstream) won't highlight is their glaring inconsistency in applying the 'election integrity' magnifying glass. Where was this sustained, crisis-level coverage when, say, allegations of
voter suppression or gerrymandering plagued US elections for decades? Or when world leaders, including US presidents, certified results from nations with deeply flawed electoral systems, provided those systems served strategic interests? The media's selective outrage paints a curious picture: Election 'contestation' is a grave threat to democracy when it’s in a Global South nation whose stability
might just conveniently align with external policy objectives, but a mere 'spirited debate' or 'unprecedented challenge' when it happens closer to home, or involves an ally. One might wonder if the concern is truly about democratic principle, or about maintaining a narrative of benevolent Western oversight. (Spoiler: it’s the latter).