THE WEST AND THE REST OF US Part 2

Hi Emile,

Another anecdote: I remember some years ago when I was still a journalist in London and was traveling to Congo Brazzaville during the civil war, I rang up one of the leading British newspapers and offered to send them a story from the field for publication. They accepted and when I got to Brazzaville, I realized there was a let-up in the fighting.That meant there was an improvement in the situation. When I sent the story to the newspaper, it preferred to use a replacement from Congo Kinshasa in which a soldier had shot dead a civilian. The idea is that if news from Africa is not bad, then it`s not news. Value judgment, of course.

I also remember once when I was invited by the BBC Bush House in London to talk about Africa, my interviewer became very blind and biased in the framing of her questions. When I advised her to visit the continent she was actually taking about in order to familiarize herself, she retorted arrogantly.

TMA