In conjunction with U.S. President George W. Bush's tour of Africa, last week we focused on finding good journalism covering Africa. Our reviewer community unearthed some excellent reporting and analysis spanning the continent: From Liberia and Nigeria in the west to Sudan and Kenya in the east. Mainly concerned with ethnic, religious, and political cleavages in these countries, the stories paint a stark image of the challenges democracy and human rights face across Africa.
Kenya had been considered a symbol of stability and development in Africa until the contested election in December opened the country up to violence and upheaval that continues even now. The two highest rated articles on the topic are both examinations of the fault lines along which the Kenyan crisis has developed. In Slate, Michela Wrong explores why Kenya's other tribes resent the Kikuyu, the tribe of President Mwai Kibaki. The piece got high marks from NewsTrust reviewer (and advisor) Terry Gamble, who found it "conveys some sense of the complexity of tribal coexistence." A more politically oriented consideration of the Kenyan crisis was found in the highly rated Foreign Affairs piece, "Kenya's Great Rift".
Looking to west Africa, the community gave high ratings to the Atlantic Monthly special report into the religious tensions in Nigeria between Christians and Muslims. Reviewer Pam Rasmussen felt what was most valuable about the piece was "its refusal to simply reduce the issue to "Muslim vs Christian." Rather, it examines the reasons behind the rise in the importance of religion in general, as well as the many variations it takes within each sect -- ranging from the most fundamental to the verging on modern/flexible."
Also from west Africa is a chilling story published on TomDispatch.com about the violence and oppression against women in war-torn countries such as Liberia. Explaining her high rating of the story, NewsTrust host Linda Raiteri writes "One of the things that makes Ann Jones's story good journalism is that she gives brief histories of the conflicts, thereby tying the women's individual stories to the upheavals as direct cause and effect. It is chilling to read how the perpetrators of very personal destruction of lives - and rape is very personal - have been promoted to high positions."
This is just a sampling of the excellent journalism NewsTrust reviewers identified on Africa. For more, check out the Africa Topic Page on NewsTrust.
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