How we decide what counts as biased.
Plain English. Citable sources. Named reviewers. Public dispute process. The Dictionary is built like a peer-reviewed reference work, not a manifesto.
I. What counts as biased
A word or phrase qualifies for the Dictionary when it meets at least two of the four tests below. One test alone is not enough.
- 1.
Flattening
The term treats 55 sovereign African countries as a single story or experience.
- 2.
Erasure
The term omits context that would change the reader's interpretation (structural cause, agency, specific actors).
- 3.
Asymmetry
The term is applied to African subjects more readily than to comparable non-African subjects (e.g. 'tribal' rarely used for European ethnic groups).
- 4.
Reach
The term appears in at least three published sources from major outlets (Reuters, BBC, FT, NYT, AP, AFP) in the prior 24 months.
II. Our research base
Every entry cites at least one external source. ANF's own research feeds the base evidence — but no entry rests on ANF research alone.
- ANF / Africa Practice (2024) — The Cost of Media Stereotypes to Africa. £4.2B annual loan-interest premium quantification.
- ACLED — Conflict and violence data, used for entries on conflict-zone language.
- Transparency International — Corruption Perceptions Index. Used to challenge the “corruption” framing.
- World Bank + IMF country-level data — Used for entries on economic framing (aid-dependency, emerging markets).
- Reuters Institute, Oxford — Editorial and audience research on African media coverage.
- Reuters / BBC / Wires headline corpus — Frequency analysis. We count how often a term appears in African coverage versus comparable non-African coverage.
III. Editorial process
- 1.
Submission
A term arrives from the storyteller network, partner newsrooms, or via the public submit form.
- 2.
AI-drafted starting point
A locked server-side template drafts an entry. The AI cannot be prompt-injected by the submitter.
- 3.
Named editor review
A working editor (one of ANF's 17 staff or 8 council members) reads, edits, or rejects with a reason.
- 4.
Source verification
Editor confirms the entry meets at least two of the four tests above, and that each source link resolves.
- 5.
Publication + audit row
On approval, a static page is generated, the audit log records the decision, and the submitter receives an outcome email.
- 6.
Quarterly re-review
Every entry is re-read by the board four times a year. Outdated entries are revised or retired.
IV. How to cite an entry
Every entry has a permanent URL, a numbered ID, a named editor, and a last-reviewed date. Each entry page surfaces a citation widget with APA, Chicago, and MLA formats — copy-paste ready.
Researchers using the Dictionary as evidence in a paper or report can request a citable PDF snapshot from editorial@africanofilter.org — we maintain versioned PDF archives for academic citation.
V. Disputing an entry
If you think an entry is wrong, send a dispute to editorial@africanofilter.org. The dispute is reviewed within 14 days by an editor who was NOT involved in the original decision. Outcomes:
- Entry stands. Editor explains the reasoning and confirms the source base. Dispute is logged.
- Entry revised. Editor updates the entry, marks the diff in the audit log, and notifies the disputer.
- Entry retired. If the dispute reveals the entry no longer meets the four tests, it's archived (URL kept live) with a note.
All disputes and outcomes are public, redacted only where the disputer requests anonymity.
VI. What the AI does, and what it does not
- AI drafts. AI does not author. Every entry is read and approved by a named editor before publication.
- Locked prompts. Submitters cannot inject instructions into the AI. The prompt template is fixed server-side.
- Bounded cost. AI spend is structurally capped. If a flood of queries hits, AI features auto-throttle.
- No training opt-in. Customer data and submissions are excluded from AI provider training datasets via the providers' commercial API terms.
Methodology is a working document.
If you want to push back on any of this, write to editorial@africanofilter.org.