The Nation group celebrated its 50th birthday last week with a major media conference in Nairobi. I was a keynote speaker, dealing with the longstanding issue of Africa's image in the media.

Test yourself on these three questions:

1. Is the image of World Cup coverage going to be of a stand-alone South Africa, or will it stand as an image of Africa more broadly?

2. Either way, will this be a negative or positive image? Or a mix of the two?

3. Does journalism make any difference to the above?

These were the questions I tackled in a paper delivered in Munich today at a conference on Sports, Media and Development.