If you don't mind me asking where are you from it looks like we have the same name and last name,, i also wanna ask for you phone number,,,or can you please send me a private email,,,to bassdrammeh2hotmail.com Hi there! Thanks for the forward.That was great! Long time ,I hope you are fine. Regards Basss. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ On 10/11/06, Ylva Hernlund wrote: > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 07:59:22 -0700 > From: [log in to unmask] > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Africa: "New News" > > > Africa: "New News" > > AfricaFocus Bulletin > Oct 11, 2006 (061011) > (Reposted from sources cited below) > > Editor's Note > > "I am constantly confounded as to why American media don't find > Africa an exciting place to report from and about. I think there's > a perception that audience interest is limited. That's certainly > not been true in my experience. ... I don't have a problem with > reporting death, disease, disaster and despair, because all of the > above exist. But that is not all there is to Africa." - Charlayne > Hunter-Gault > > This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains excerpts from an interview with > Charlayne Hunter-Gault by AllAfrica.com, reflecting on her new book > "New News from Africa." The full interview is available at > http://allafrica.com/stories/200610060824.html > > ++++++++++++++++++++++end editor's note+++++++++++++++++++++++ > > 'New News' from Africa - Looking Beyond Death, Disease, Disaster > and Despair > > Interview with Charlayne Hunter-Gault > > > [Excerpts: full interview available at > http://allafrica.com/stories/200610060824.html Reposted with > permission from allAfrica.com] > > October 6, 2006 > > Washington, DC > > Charlayne Hunter-Gault, one of the best-known and most > award-winning journalists in the United States, has focused her > recent career on covering Africa. After nearly two decades as a > correspondent for the Newshour on public television, she moved to > Johannesburg, South Africa, working successively as Africa > correspondent for National Public Radio and CNN bureau chief, > before leaving CNN last year to pursue independent projects. This > month, her interview with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf > appears in Essence magazine. She talked with AllAfrica about her > latest book, New News Out of Africa: Uncovering Africa's > Renaissance. > > AA: Your interest in Africa dates from childhood? > > Hunter-Gault: My initial interest in the continent goes back to my > childhood in the segregated [U.S.] south where, on weekends, the > big activity was to go to what we called "the show." It was the > little segregated movie theater in my town of Covington, Georgia, > and it was always either "westerns" or Tarzan movies which somehow > captured my imagination. At that time, there wasn't a lot of > discussion about Africa, either in my household or in the > community. I was so struck by the adventures of Tarzan that I used > to play in my backyard, where there were lots of trees and vines > hanging, and I called myself "Nyoka, Queen of the Jungle." > > So something in my primal memory must have been stirred by all of > that - although in retrospect those Tarzan movies were so racist. > They make me sad, because the victim was always some hapless > African or the villain was some African terrible guy, and the white > Tarzan was always the hero. But that didn't really register much. > > In later years, I encountered the poem, "What is Africa to me, > scarlet sky or copper sea?" [by Countee Cullen] It is a beautiful > poem. But when I was in college, I began to see Africa as more than > a poem, as more than a Tarzan movie, more than adventure. Robert F. > Kennedy came to my university at a time when the south was > resisting the law of the land requiring desegregation. I think that > he and his brother, President John Kennedy, were concerned about > the black vote [in the United States] and also viewed Africa as a > potential bulwark against communism. > > Speaking at the University of Georgia, Robert Kennedy said that the > graduation of Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes would be a major > milestone in the fight against communism. I was shocked. There I > was sitting in a room of hostile white people, and they said, "What > was that he said?" But it was indicative that Africa was emerging > on the international scene and making its making its way ever more > deeply into the consciousness of African Americans like myself. > > AA: Why do you think that coverage of Africa in major U.S. media is > so limited? > > Hunter-Gault: I am constantly confounded as to why American media > don't find Africa an exciting place to report from and about. I > think there's a perception that audience interest is limited. > That's certainly not been true in my experience. I lecture on > college campuses, before businesses and corporations and other > venues around the country. And I always find receptivity to the > 'new news' that I bring from Africa. Interest - and ignorance to be > sure - because people aren't getting the information they need to > understand Africa. > > Reporting is dominated by the four 'd's I talk about in the book - > death, disease, disaster and despair. > > AA: Has coverage changed during the three decades you've been > paying attention to Africa and working as a professional > journalist? > > Hunter-Gault: I don't think so! There are moments when journalists > descend on the continent - when Mozambique floods and a baby is > born in the tree, etc. I don't have a problem with that. I don't > have a problem with reporting death, disease, disaster and despair, > because all of the above exist. > > But that is not all there is to Africa. And when you have crises to > which the international community should respond, increasingly > there is a reluctance to do so because, after all of this negative > reporting, there is a feeling: What's the point? If all you hear > about year after year is hunger, drought, disease and conflict, > people conclude that Africa's problems are intractable and that > nothing in Africa ever changes. > > The "new news" that needs to be shared includes the fact that in > 1998 there were 14 wars being fought on the continent. Today there > are three, because Burundi's last guerilla movement has now signed > on to the peace process. And in Congo, the first contested election > in 40 years was held in relative peace. That's "new news," even > though many people still focus on the unrest that continues in some > parts of the country. > > AA: You've reported from Africa for both NPR and CNN. Were you > frustrated by what you were able to do? > > Hunter-Gault: The whole time I was at NPR, and subsequently at CNN, > I got the stories on the air that I went after and thought were > important to do, sometimes to the frustration of editors. My > stories were often longer than they wanted them to be, and I kept > pushing the envelope. But I walked away from CNN quite proud about > what I had been able to do. > > I think a lot of journalists self-censor, because they don't think > there is going to be receptivity to their Africa reporting. That > self-censorship becomes a self-defeating and self-fulfilling > prophecy. Journalists who are invested in trying to get news of the > continent out just have to keep slogging, keep on fighting for > space. They have to be creative in the way they propose and sell > stories. > > As I say in the book, they have to go there to know there. Let them > go there and spend a little time there, as opposed to parachuting > in for a specific thing and leaving. If you go to Niger to cover > the famine, go next door or go somewhere else in the country where > there is no famine. Or if you go to Darfur, go to southern Sudan > and see how they're rebuilding after decades of war. See what is > the sprit of the people. > > We have to understand that the audience is not tuning out on > Africa. It's the media decision makers who decide that Americans > aren't interested. After I left the NewsHour, many people in the > United States thought that I had died! They so rarely saw anything > I did on CNN domestic, or only episodically or occasionally, and > those people who watched the NewsHour didn't watch CNN domestic. > > Not a lot got on CNN domestic, and yet all over the continents of > Africa and Europe - and everywhere else that people get CNN > International - people were watching. But a decision had been made, > or was made on a regular basis by the domestic side, that there > wasn't sufficient [audience] interest [in Africa]. > > Now, I have to say, that's changing a little bit. I have friends > who still work at CNN and who've been doing great work, people like > Jeff Koinange. He's getting more things on CNN, and Anderson Cooper > is becoming more and more interested in the continent. > > Some of that has to do with, again, the death, disease, disaster, > and despair, but the point is: let them get interested. > > I've been working with a group called My Sister's Keeper. In fact, > I reported on them from southern Sudan in December. I went over > there to follow them because they were going to see if it was > feasible to build a girls' school. It was an amazing eye-opener. > Here was a part of the country that was put back into the Stone Age > by war; there's nothing there, not even anything to make bricks. So > the task of these women is going to be daunting. > > I agreed to have them come over to Martha's Vineyard this summer > and talk to people about the school, and see if there'd be people > willing to contribute. They sent out emails to people whose names > I gave them and others who are working with this project, and the > response has been amazing. People want to contribute - and they > don't know anything. So when you give them a little bit of "new > news," the response is invariably positive. > > AA: In your reporting, you strive to make the people you are > covering come to life for your audience. So do you think it's not > just a question of finding the stories that are beyond death and > destruction, war and famine, but it's also what you do when you're > reporting on those crisis situations? > > Hunter-Gault: Yes, it's how you look at things. For a five-part > series on poverty in Africa for NPR, I went to look at the > conditions, but in each instance to the extent that it existed, I > wanted to also see if anybody was doing anything about it. > > In Tanzania, for example, where the face of poverty is a woman, you > go to the rural areas and she's the one who's out there tilling > what little land is left in the face of drought. She is the one who > is trying to provide for the family because often the men are off > in the mines or doing some other migrant work, somewhere way away. > She's the bread-winner and the one who keeps the family together. > But she's also the one who gets infected with HIV, when the husband > comes back from months and months away in the mines and has > contracted HIV from sex workers. She's having a rough time, and so > that's the story you tell. > > But you also tell the story of the women who are meeting under the > tree and have availed themselves of one of the Care International > programs called Village Savings and Loans. These are providing > loans for women, and some men, but they're mostly women, where > there are no banks, and where credit just wouldn't be possible. And > yet the small amounts of money that they've been able to pull > together and put into a common pot have generated businesses and > expanded businesses. > > One of these women has a vegetable stand. She's selling vegetables > and dried fish and dead worms and all kinds of things, and she told > me that her business has expanded five-fold in two years. Now she > can buy clothes for her children. She can send them to school, she > can feed them, and she can reinvest the profits to further expand > her business. > > That kind of thing gives the impetus, perhaps, to the international > community to want to contribute, because in the midst of dire > poverty all around, here's this little mound of hope and the > prospect that these women, who are involved in this thing, won't be > forever poor. ... > > AA: What do you recommend to people in newsrooms who want to bring > more "new news" about Africa into the coverage? > > Hunter-Gault: They just have to go there. They have to be willing to go > there.This is not always glamorous. Everyone wants to come to South > Africa, because they can stay in nice hotels and run out to the townships > and get a little bit dirty and then come back and take a nice shower in the > five-star hotel. > > But you have to go beyond that. You have to be willing to do it > again and again, willing to take chances and be uncomfortable, and > you also have to be willing to be unpopular. > > It's not the job that gets you the anchor position on the news. You > have to be realistic about it. You have to realize what you're up > against and be prepared to give it your all to get it there. > > It's not unlike the 1960s here [in the United States], when we > tried to get more people of color into the major media. And when > cities erupted in flames, everybody in newsrooms was surprised. > Finally, they realized that the reason they were surprised is > because nobody who knew those places were there in those newsrooms. > That's when people of color began to be recruited, to come in and > cover - first of all - where they lived. > > After a while, they wanted to do other things too! They wanted to > do foreign affairs. They wanted to write editorials. They wanted to > cover energy, and the environment and politics. They've advanced. > > I challenged the National Association of Black Journalists meeting > a few years ago. I said: you changed the face of American > journalism. Now you need to concentrate your efforts on the > international side. Who better to do it? > > AA: In the book, you talked about 'coming in right.' > > Hunter-Gault: That's part of good coverage anywhere you go. I went > to Harlem in the early '70s, when the [Black] Panthers were > reinventing themselves, or at least trying to. They were presenting > a breakfast program for children, and when I showed them my > credentials, my New York Times press card, this Panther said, "No > you can't come in." I said, "Why is that?" And he said, "Because > you work for 'the Man,' and the Man is not going to allow you to > tell the truth." The New York Times in those days was referred to > as the Grey Lady, but I knew what he meant. > > I said, "Ok, let's make a deal. You let me come in here and cover > this one, and if what is in the paper tomorrow is not an accurate > reflection of what has actually taken place then don't let me come > the next time." And he said, "Alright, on one condition, that you > come in right." He didn't have to spell that out for me. I knew > what he meant. Don't come in here with a lot of preconceived > notions about who we are and what we are. Come in and see what's > happening and let the story dictate. > > The next time I saw him, he said, "Right on sister," and I said, > "Power to the people." We got past that. > > It's not a bad way of preparing to cover anything, but especially > those places, and people, and things that have been so > misrepresented. ... > > Sometimes you have to press and press and press and press, but I > think a lot of times, reporters have formed their opinions about > something. No amount of facts or explanations is going change that, > especially if they've been conditioned over the years, maybe by > wrong information, to see things in a certain way. > > Which is why I tried to be very sensitive as I went into Africa, > even though I came out of an environment where I became sensitized > very early on to how you can get misrepresented, because I was the > subject of news myself. [Charlayne Hunter and fellow student > Hamilton Holmes integrated the University of Georgia in 1961, amid > violent protests against their admission.] I was able, at > 19-years-old, to separate the good ones from the not good ones. > > I understood that, but still, even with my own background and > perspective, I was a product of Western education, where there was > very little information. And it still is the case that there's very > little information about Africa that is truly informative. > > So you go with your bags packed with pages and pages of background > research and material, but it's all from a particular perspective > - unless it's allAfrica.com! (I'm not just saying that > gratuitously. I'm saying it because it's true.) ... > > But, there's always something to be learned, especially on a > continent with 54 countries and over 800 million people: > multifarious, multifaceted, multi-varied, multiethnic. So you have > to always be open to new things. You just have to be a good > journalist. > > AA: What about quoting African sources - not just outside experts > - and getting to know local journalists? > > Hunter-Gault: I think it's very important to liaise with African > journalists. For all of the difficulties that African journalists have faced > - not the least being oppression by many governments and countries where > most of the media has been state-controlled - many have shown great courage > and determination to try to tell the truth. > > As I said in the book, local journalists tell you where to get the > best coffee, and on the way, they give you the run down. As a > journalist, you check out your sources. But those are the people > who live there. They find ways of helping you get things you > wouldn't see, just popping in and popping out. > > Having said that, they will be the first to say they need more > resources and more training, because they haven't had access to a > lot of it. They talk about needing more courses in economics, so > that they can figure out where Africa is within a new global and > globalizing economy. Many of them don't even have computers, but > they utilize Internet cafes. They work with minimal resources, > against great odds, and yet they're out there. And they're getting > better and better at what they do. ... > > Journalists want to help build their democracies, and they are > seeing that constructive, critical reporting is as important to the > building of democracy as writing stories about how wonderful > everything is. They understand that part of their responsibility is > to keep the feet to the fire of governments who have made promises > to the people. > > In Ghana, for example, in the last two elections, journalists > fanned out across the country and saw to it that the ballots that > were being counted were being counted properly and accurately. They > made it impossible to cheat, because they were calling the results > in, and it was being announced on the radio. > > I recently went to Ethiopia, as a board member of the Committee to > Protect Journalists, to talk to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi about > those dozen or so journalists who are in prison, charged with > treason and facing death. I went, hoping to get some of them > released. We weren't successful in that, but we had a very good > exchange with the prime minister, and it's clear that there needs > to be more communication between the government and the media. Not > so that the media do good stories or so that the government gives > them scoops, but just so you improve the communication. > > Those journalists were accused of working for the opposition, > because most of what was contained in their news reports were the > words and positions of the opposition. But what they told us from > their prison cells, as well as others who weren't in prison and > came to visit us surreptitiously, was that the government wouldn't > talk to them, so they only had one side to report. We told this to > the prime minister, who acknowledged that his government needed to > do a better job at communicating with the media. > > It's also important, not just in Ethiopia, for both sides to be > responsible. Given the woeful lack of compensation to journalists, > it's not too surprising that there might be lapses in ethics or > practice. There has to be a consciousness on the part of > journalists, as well as on the part of governments, that everybody === message truncated === --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Get on board. You're invited to try the new Yahoo! 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