Charlayne Hunter Gault

Charlayne Hunter Gault, journalist for The New York Times, CNN, PBS and NPR spoke about her experiences as a journalist in Africa and being the first African-American female student at the University of Georgia. Gault’s resume speaks volumes about her experiences and provides superior credibility on the topics she discussed in front of the audience at Miami University.

Basing her lecture off of her book “New News Out of Africa”, Gault stated that news should not just be about catastrophic or negative events that occur, but should be able to be used by citizens to make informed judgments about Africa. In saying that, she was careful to point out that this doesn’t mean ignoring the 4 “D’s” (death, disease, disaster and despair) that most often accompany negative news out of Africa.

Gault’s comment reflects the fact that media has contributed to negative perceptions of Africa by reporting through the spectrum of the 4 D’s. What needs to be done is stop reporting on negative aspects of Africa but instead use these situations to promote awareness and educate citizens on the situation. Africa must now fight to continue progression away from such negative perceptions and try to move on from their colonization and to fight the “demons of its own design”.

As Africa’s 54 countries and over 900 million people transition to democratic role, it is important to realize that young democracies need all the help they can get to ensure a true renaissance. African’s are serious about taking things in to their own hands but also welcome partnerships at the same time. Those countries who are in position to help Africa (i.e. USA), must realize that doing so is in that nation’s interest.

Africa is abundant in natural resources and is willing to distribute these resources for the greater good of all. Africa is known to contain nearly 40% of all gold and 60% of cobalt and manganese. More important,