Global Policy Forum

By Kim Paull

The state of Africa, Charlayne Hunter-Gault says in her most recent book, "New News Out of Africa", is in many ways shaped by the public's image of Africa, and the image of Africa is in the hands of the media.

Besieged by cliched headlines bearing news of the "four D's" -- death, destruction, disease and despair -- Africa needs fresh, "new news" reporting, according to Hunter-Gault, a former CNN reporter and current South Africa resident. Combining insightful personal observations and informed coverage of the political and economic tides, "New News Out of Africa" offers a palatable, balanced report of the continent's renaissance. The "new news" is not always good news, concedes Hunter-Gault. Instead, it aims for accuracy rather than sensationalism; for the real picture rather than the party line.

A veteran reporter who spent 20 years with the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour and earned prestigious accolades for her coverage of South African apartheid, she is also the first black woman to desegregate the University of Georgia in the United States. In the first of three chapters, she covers the transformation of the continent's most promising nation, South Africa. The shift from an apartheid state to a black-led government was relatively peaceful, and the new state has taken steps towards transparency and peer-review of neighbouring governments, harbingers of future stability. Though she acknowledges the AIDS epidemic, the massive black unemployment, and the political infighting, Hunter-Gault believes the 11-year-old democracy is on a stable path toward economic and social development.

The need to counteract the mountain of negative press is very real, Hunter-Gault says in an interview with WorldPress.org. "Donor fatigue" and "compassion fatigue" have hit western organisations which fear that, in light of the barrage of disparaging headlines from Africa, aid encourages dependency or will only fall into the hands of corrupt politicians who continue to sap their citizens.

However, Hunter-Gault notes the "direct correlation between poverty and security -- the condition of Africa makes it ripe for activity by terrorists." Impoverished, starved citizens are likely to sign on with terrorist organisations who offer money and protection for family members, she warns. Though authoritarian regimes like that of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe threaten the stability of the continent, there are a number of young democracies -- all less than 30 years old -- emerging across Africa, aided by a continent-wide commitment to advancement by courageous journalists and activists who Charlayne claims are "not patient, in a good way." Some of the continent's most maligned states -- such as Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Angola -- are seeing encouraging signs: credible elections, recognition of human rights, and the establishment of the peer review system, which sets standards of governance valued by the 26 participating nations.

One of the most effective forces of change, Hunter-Gault asserts, is the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) agreement.Led by South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki, "the group aims to eliminate poverty, concentrating on growth and development, halting marginalisation of Africa... and accelerating the empowerment of women." So far it has seen numerous successes, most notably in the Republic of Congo and Nigeria.

However, NEPAD and most African countries, while replete with the desire to affect a change, lack the financial resources. Hunter-Gault argues passionately for the western cancellation of debt to African countries, echoing calls made by both African and Western leaders. Many of the nations came into debt during tyrannical regimes that borrowed excessively under the auspices of aid. Unfortunately, the effects of their corruption outlasted their terms in office. "There is a concept called 'odious debt.' That's when loans were made to a repressive tyrant and the money was not used for the intended purposes. So when the tyrant goes, the debt should go. Otherwise, you have people paying for their own repression," she says.

Though repression exists in many African countries, it is not incurable. Hunter-Gault believes journalists have a pivotal role in fighting repression. It must be written about, exposed, and brought to the eyes of not only Western leaders, but the citizens as well.Unfortunately, she says, several nations, most notably Zimbabwe, have placed tight restrictions on independent newspapers, paying particular attention to foreign journalists. In the case of Zimbabwe, the only legal newspapers are government-controlled organisations. Even local news writers face deplorable conditions. One of the continent's most respected independent dailies, a small Lagos-based paper, has seen its computers confiscated by authorities and its funding channels destroyed. The journalists would come in. There would be a huge table, with a great big roll of paper," Hunter-Gault told WorldPress.org. "They would come in and unroll as much as they thought the story needed, rip it off, and go sit down and write their stories." A typist would then convert their handwriting to data on the office's one computer.

Despite the obstacles, journalists, even in state-controlled outfits, are gaining autonomy over their content. For instance, journalists decided to review recent elections in Ghana, and were later responsible for certifying their legality. Through democratic reforms, peer-review, and steadily declining violence, the African Renaissance is taking hold on the continent. Though it maybe too early to judge the staying power of the movement, Hunter-Gault believes that "Africa is poised to take control of its own destiny in a way it never has before."

"New News Out of Africa" is already in its second printing since its original publication in June 2006 by Oxford University Press.

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