ISSUE

Fall 2004

Africa: Stories to Be Told

Africa is portrayed in the Western media by its extremes, observes Ugandan journalist Charles Onyango-Obbo, a managing editor with the Nation Media Group in Nairobi, Kenya. Stories about its civil wars, human rights abuses, government corruption, disease and poverty abound, but these have been joined by Western reporting that, in Onyango-Obbo’s opinion, can be too willing to celebrate the promised reforms of emergent leaders for whom greater journalistic scrutiny should be applied. The result: “… the leadership in Africa became not only complacent, but also used the flattering international coverage to muzzle internal critics and vigorous independent reporting ….”

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Articles

Opinion

Tips About FOIA Filings

FOIA for the FOIA logs. Not only do they contain clues to stories, but also reporters will discover fascinating/ entertaining requests. One CIA log, for example, showed a requester had…
Rob Walters
September 15, 2004
Opinion

Journalists Act to Combat Government Secrecy

Today journalists are observing a growing culture of secrecy in Washington and the use of “national security” to justify restricted access and sometimes complete closure throughout all areas of government.…
Pete Weitzel
September 15, 2004
Opinion

The Steady March of Government Secrecy

Journalists strategize to gain access to information the public has a right to know.
Pete Weitzel
September 15, 2004
International Journalism Journalist’s Trade

Transforming Journalism as Democracy Emerges

‘Ten years into democracy, many journalists are struggling to redefine their relationship to government.’
Pippa Green
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

When Reporting a Story Turns Into Running From a Riot

‘This is the thing about covering places like the Congo—things can be incredibly unpredictable.’
Jason Beaubien
September 15, 2004
International Journalism Journalist’s Trade

African Radio Reporters’ Tool Kit

Lots of cash in hundred dollar bills, plus some fives to cover the small things. There’s no sense carrying twenties. Several thousand dollars in twenties gets bulky. A headlamp flashlight…
Jason Beaubien
September 15, 2004
Nieman Notes

Using a Camera to Shoot the Big Five

A retired journalist refocuses to connect with ‘the slower heartbeat of the African bush.’
Hennie van Deventer
September 15, 2004
Visual Journalism

When Being a Photojournalist Is About Surviving

‘Journalists could never be sure they would be alive to cover the next assignment.’
Gregory H. Stemn
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

Hope in a Can of Green Beans

The Times Union special section involved a series of short stories written by Paul Grondahl. A story follows:Two thousand hungry villagers have been sitting cross-legged in the red dirt for…
Paul Grondahl
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

When Tragedy Is No Longer a Good Enough Story to Tell

An African journalist chronicles his life and revisits some of Africa’s major news stories of the 1990’s.
Wilson Wanene
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

A Mid-Sized Newspaper Connects Its Readers to Africa

Times Union journalists traveled to Malawi to trace the links of local citizens to the people of sub-Saharan Africa.
Rex Smith
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

Journalists and Humanitarian NGO’s

In our ‘symbiotic’ relationship, aid workers become sources, gatekeepers or eye openers.
Hilaire Avril
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

Taking Photographs in North Korea

‘You are not allowed to photograph people. You are not allowed to go anywhere without a guide.’
Dermot Tatlow
September 15, 2004
Opinion

Using Public Records Laws to Expose Government Misdeeds

For one journalist, it took 20 years, lots of research, and several court decisions to uncover the FBI’s abuses of power and secrecy on a campus during the cold war.
Seth Rosenfeld
September 15, 2004
Opinion

Documentaries Raise Questions Journalists Should Ask Themselves

‘Have they delved deeply enough into issues surrounding the nation’s war on terror and its homeland security?’
Rose Economou
September 15, 2004
Opinion

‘Infoganda’ in Uniform

The Bush administration creates media outlets to tell its story.
Charles Zewe
September 15, 2004
Opinion

‘Homeland’

A journalist reveals America in the wake of the September 11th attacks.
Dale Maharidge
September 15, 2004
Opinion

When FOIA Requests Become a Reporting Habit

At the York Daily Record/Sunday News, reporters don’t hesitate to push agencies for undisclosed information.
Rob Walters
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

Priorities in the Struggle for Press Freedom

There are areas at The Namibian that we’ve possibly failed to address rigorously but that should be made priorities in the struggle for press freedom. These include the following:Advocacy: Although…
Gwen Lister
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

Journalist’s Trade “Africa: Stories to Be Told” Introduction (Fall 2004)

Africa is portrayed in the Western media by its extremes, observes Ugandan journalist Charles Onyango-Obbo, a managing editor with the Nation Media Group in Nairobi, Kenya. Stories about its civil…
Melissa Ludtke
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

When African Governments Stifle Press Freedom

In many countries in southern Africa, journalists face harsh consequences when they try to hold governments accountable.
Luckson A. Chipare
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

Journalism at a Crossroads in Liberia

War devastated the nation’s independent media, and now the job of restoring the foundation for news reporting begins.
Gabriel I.H. Williams
September 15, 2004
Visual Journalism

Photographing a Nation Under Siege

In Liberia, a photojournalist finds death, despair and destruction.
Carolyn Cole
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

Africa Through the Eyes of African Reporters

If local journalists reported more of the news to Western audiences, their sources and the story’s context would be different.
Geoffrey Nyarota
September 15, 2004
Weighing the Moral Argument Against the Way Things Work
International Journalism

Weighing the Moral Argument Against the Way Things Work

‘We have covered Africa this year, so we won’t be doing anything for a while.’
Marcus Bleasdale
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

War Crimes Tribunals in Africa and Sleeping Press Watchdogs

‘… there is an obvious need for independent press scrutiny to hold these tribunals accountable.’
Thierry Cruvellier
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

Seeking Balance in a Continent Portrayed By Its Extremes

‘The patronizing reporting one witnesses today is as bad as the condescending work of the past.’
Charles Onyango-Obbo
September 15, 2004
International Journalism Journalist’s Trade

Revealing Lives Behind the Statistics

‘We would work to capture and convey the human dignity not often found in stories painting statistical portraits.'
Davan Maharaj
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

The Numbers Game in African Reporting

Statistics don’t matter when disease and disaster exact such high human tolls in Africa.
John Donnelly
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

Trapped in a Time-Warped Narrative

A BBC foreign correspondent pleads with journalists to move past their relentless focus on Africa’s misery.  
Fergal Keane
September 15, 2004
Opinion

CBS Lets the Pentagon Taint Its News Process

In acquiescing to government requests for two broadcast delays, CBS News erred.
Stephen J. Berry
September 15, 2004
Nieman Notes

Partnering With Young People

A program to improve child health engages teenagers interested in journalism.
Jerome Aumente
September 15, 2004
From the Curator

Transparency Benefits the Practice of Journalism

‘The Nieman Watchdog Project … is grounded in the belief that probing questions are essential to informed reporting.’
Bob Giles
September 15, 2004
International Journalism Journalist’s Trade

Managing Media in Times of Crisis

Gwen Lister, editor of The Namibian, an independent daily newspaper in Namibia, spoke to delegates at the UNESCO conference on “Freedom of Expression and Conflict Management in Crisis Situations and…
Gwen Lister
September 15, 2004
International Journalism Journalist’s Trade

Lessons in Managing Independent Media

At The Namibian, we’ve experienced successes and some failures due to a number of factors both within and outside our control. Our success in ensuring the survival of the newspaper…
Gwen Lister
September 15, 2004
Opinion

Documenting the Experiences of Military Families

‘… as I set out to tell this story, I soon discovered that the voices of military children were all but invisible.’
Barbara Walsh
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

The Government Silenced Zimbabwe’s Only Independent Newspaper

‘Revealing the facts about their corruption and mismanagement really makes bad rulers mad.’
Yvonne van der Heijden
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

Focusing on Human Rights

With survivors telling their stories, U.S. News & World Report describes life inside North Korea’s gulag.
Thomas Omestad
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

Blogging North Korea

The Web provides a good opportunity for ‘niche’ audiences to find more international news.
Rebecca MacKinnon
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

The Hidden Stories of North Korea

Relying on defectors, experts and occasional glimpses, a reporter tries to provide information and insights about this closed society.
Barbara Demick
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

China and the Internet: A Reader Responds

“Is Internet censorship worth fighting?,” Jonathan Zittrain asks in his article, “China and Internet Filters,” in the Summer edition of Nieman Reports. While the Berkman Center for Internet and Society…
Fons Tuinstra
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

Caught Between the Cold War and the Internet

How foreign news will be covered is a question—with a few possible answers.
Fons Tuinstra
September 15, 2004
Opinion

Proposing a Variation on Embedded Reporting

Switching from the battlefield to inside a military hospital, we would ‘explore the physical and psychological aftermath of war.’
Anne Hull
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

Foreign Correspondence: Evolution, Not Extinction

‘The new correspondents are reshaping foreign news in ways that have potential for good and, without interventions, for bad.’
Eric Jenner
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

Emotional Connections to African Reporting

Zambia’s orphaned children portray many dimensions of the human toll of AIDS.
Frank Green
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

Fall 2004: International Journalism Introduction

Foreign CorrespondenceWhile traditional Western foreign correspondents are decreasing in number at many news organizations, their work is not becoming extinct, but is “evolving into new forms,” argue John Maxwell Hamilton,…
Melissa Ludtke
September 15, 2004
Opinion

Fall 2004: Words & Reflections Introduction

War and TerrorThe dangers and challenges to journalists who report on the war in Iraq have been amply demonstrated in threats to their safety, difficulties of establishing and maintaining trust…
Melissa Ludtke
September 15, 2004
Opinion

The Associated Press Responds to Increased Government Secrecy

In May 2004, Tom Curley, president and chief executive officer of The Associated Press, delivered the 38th Annual Hays Press-Enterprise Lecture in Riverside, California. His address was entitled “Why Access…
Tom Curley
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

No Easy Life for Journalists in Africa

Working for an independent press is an act of extreme courage in many of the continent’s countries.
Shyaka Kanuma
September 15, 2004
Opinion

When Fighting is Glimpsed From a Different Perspective

In setting out to better understand the roots of the Iraqi resistance, a journalist learns how controlling the press can affect the course of events.
Patrick Graham
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

African Stories In Need of Reporters

On the eve of the World Press Freedom Day, May 3, 2004, the United Nations Department of Public Information launched “Ten Stories the World Should Hear More About.” Half of…
Sarah Hagedorn
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

International Network of Cities of Asylum

Since the fatwa was issued in 1989 against Indian-born author Salman Rushdie, writers from five continents have been convened each year by Car-refour des Littératures in Strasbourg, France to discuss…
Yvonne van der Heijden
September 15, 2004
International Journalism

Africa Web Coverage

Among the strongest Web sites displaying the complexities of the continent and her news are South Africa’s News24. co.za and Africamediaonline.com. There is a relatively new and ambitious site, Africaalmanac.com,…
Charles Onyango-Obbo
September 15, 2004
International Journalism Journalist’s Trade

Using the Internet to Examine Patterns of Foreign Coverage

African events are often not reported because Western news coverage is strongly connected to a nation’s wealth.
Ethan Zuckerman
September 15, 2004
Opinion

Protesting Doonesbury’s Dismissal

‘What is practiced these days is not censorship with a U.S. government stamp.’
Bob Davis
September 15, 2004
Opinion

York Daily Record/Sunday News Stories Based on FOIA Requests

In February 2002, The York Daily Record/Sunday News wrote about a convicted killer sitting on death row for 20 years, longer than anyone else in the United States. In its…
Rob Walters
September 12, 2004