Africa. It is sometimes referred to as the “dark” continent, but today it seems almost invisible. Glance at the front page of any newspaper, and it’s not likely that you’ll find a story about Africa above the fold and probably not below the fold either.
It’s not as if the planet’s second largest continent lacks stories that fit the standard criteria for news. Death: there’s plenty of it, tens of thousands dead and displaced in Sudan’s Darfur region in the past year alone. Disease: AIDS is ripping the place apart. Drama: there’s the ongoing conflict between Islam and Christianity and stories of al-Qaeda gaining strength and recruits in the East. So if Africa has all the elements of a good story, why doesn’t it get the ink?
Guests:
Mark Doyle, World Affairs Correspondent for the BBC
Michela Wrong, freelance reporter, author of “In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu’s Congo”
Geoffrey Nyarota, Founder and Editor of Zimbabwe’s only independent daily newspaper, The Daily Press
Jim Smith, foreign editor of The Boston Globe.