Journalists from 14 African nations joined the Institute for Public Service Reporting on July 28 to discuss everything from freedom of the press to the perils of reporting news in a dangerous political climate.
The U.S. Department of state brought the group to the Meeman Journalism Building in Memphis as part of an effort to familiarize African journalists to the United States. The contingent started its 10-day American tour in Washington, D.C., came to Memphis and then concluded it in Missoula, Montana.
The group was headed by S. Najlaa Abdus-Samad, media relations officer with the U.S. State Department, who said the goal was to discuss how American journalists report news and learn about how press freedoms are respected in the U.S.A.
Participating in the panel discussion were Marc Perrusquia, institute director; David Waters, assistant director; Chris Fulton, former intern at the institute, and Otis Sanford, retired JRSM faculty member.
It was an eye-opening discussion as journalists discussed with the panel the difficulties of reporting news in Africa, along with the dangers many journalists face. The journalists came from some of the most populous nations of Africa including Nigeria, Ethiopia and Uganda.
Some of the issues they discussed were mostly foreign to American journalists such as official government censorship, night time raids of newsrooms and fear of being photographed in public.
“Because our Constitution protects freedom of the press, it’s hard for us to relate to the threats to life and livelihood African journalists face every day,’’ Waters said.
David Waters, assistant director of the U of M’s Institute for Public Service Reporting, discusses issues with press freedom on July 28 at the Meeman Journalism Building to a group of visiting African journalists. PHOTO/Scott Pickey