I think explaining why things are happening is part of a journalist's job.

What do you mean by 'insisting people understand it a particular way'?

@amywestervelt @nrupesh @joykirigia @tprice504

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I think it does matter. It's important that affected communities (and reporters) know the reason behind what is destroying lives and livelihood. It's important in order to make better choices, to know where to place accountability and for climate justice.

@amywestervelt @nrupesh @joykirigia @tprice504

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@tprice504

I think this is doable and a great idea. It would be a matter of coming together with a few other journalists to make this happen, say for East Africa.

Having accounts with curated feeds from different regions would be very helpful for collaboration between reporters across countries/regions.

I recently started a weekly newsletter that provides brief highlights on what is making news in Ethiopia for similar reasons.

#journahostQandA

I agree with @nrupesh in that climate change is not something we report on here too despite reeling from the effects of it! Yet the droughts and floods get consistent coverage.
In Ethiopia, the big issues are:

1. The recent peace agreement
2. Conflict
2. Drought (not climate change)
3. Displacement (not climate change)
4. Politics
5. Religion (recently making headlines)

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@joykirigia @tprice504

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What are some of the key ways you think Africa isn't taken into account when reporters for large outlets in the US and Europe talk about global phenomena?

This is absolutely true and one of the most exhausting parts of working on a story in Ethiopia; the process of getting data for your story can almost seem like asking for a favor.

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@nrupesh @tprice504 @e_urq @joykirigia

@mayamisikir Yes, ultimately as individuals we can only push the rock up the hill so far. But we give it a shove when we can.

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As a local freelance reporter, I get to choose what stories I do to an extent, and therein lies my power. It may not be a lot but its something.
When I do a story, I can also work on the way it is angled.
At times, it can also be that outside outlets are also not privy to what local reporters know so the reporting is skewed.
There are limits as to how far this goes, but one reporter at a time.

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@tprice504

@nrupesh @mayamisikir @e_urq I wonder if there is a way journa.host could do this as a service for various regions?

Could we create accounts with curated feeds from reputable, independent news sources? Maybe, say, one for West Africa, one for the North Africa, etc.

We all suffer from news overload, but being able to dip into a feed of local news would be a great way to see issues that matter to locals.

I'd have to think about the technical aspects, but there must be a way.

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@nrupesh @mayamisikir @joykirigia Ok. I'll take a stab, and I'm doing this as someone who has (I'll fully admit) a limited knowledge of the regions and the its coutries:

1) Democracy and political stability
2) Economic development (with concerns about an extraction economics)
3) Climate change
4) Food security (and how climate change affects this)
5) Religious sectarianism

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There is no one index with a list of independent media houses in Ethiopia that I know of, but a quick search online will reveal who owns the media house.

Setting up Google Alerts on a specific topic/country also helps cast a wide net for sources of news as @nrupesh said.

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@tprice504 @e_urq

@nrupesh Could you tell us more about the Freedom of Media in Africa? Is there a link with the list you mentioned?

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I want to ask the journalists outside Africa to highlight 5 top issues they think are the biggest in Africa today. Without doing any research, if you can list a few issues it will also show us what the perception is and we can then list the top 5 issues in our countries ( @mayamisikir for Ethiopia, @joykirigia for Kenya and I will list for Namibia ) just to show how vastly different our national issues are, compared to what it seems on the outside.

@tprice504

@mayamisikir How can you as a local reporter try to make those changes? Most of what you mention seems to be about preconceptions and decisions made by outside media (and it may be that ultimately those outside outlet need to make the correction and there are limits to what local reporters can do).

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@mayamisikir @e_urq Is there a good way to find out who owns publications in Africa? Or is there a list of independent news outlets?

Realistically, I personally don't see myself following African publication on a regular basis (that true for me of most International outlets). But if there is a major story (an election, a disaster, etc.), I do like to check out the local coverage.

An index of independent outlets would be useful for me.

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We definitely need more journalist alliances as @nrupesh said but the African Investigative Journalism Conference is one space that came to mind - you get to learn about some of the most inspiring investigative reporting on the continent and meet like-minded people are working in challenging spaces for journalists/media.

It's a good reminder of why we do the work we do. That's a good rallying point as different as we are across the continent.

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@tprice504

This is a loaded one. But something's for sure; there is a lack of creativity or effort when it comes to Western coverage of stories in Africa, atleast that's what I noticed in Ethiopia.

Some stories are easier to pitch because that's what people are used to hearing from/about Ethiopia but I think it can definitely explore more sides to a story. It should also involve more local reporters, collaborating on stories about their communities, and not just as fixers.

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Make sure to check out #journahostQandA where a discussion of reporting in Africa with three African journalists from different countries is currently going on.

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@e_urq

If you're looking to get news on Ethiopia, it's always good to check on who owns the media house. While there are independent media houses that provide reliable news, the biggest ones tend to be government-owned or state affiliated ones; their coverage is biased and selective.

Addis Standard, Addis Fortune, The Reporter are good for news and Ethiopia Insight for analysis pieces.

#journahostQandA

Be a part of our upcoming q&a on #reporting in #Africa, and send your questions in.

Featuring #journalists from #ethiopia, #kenya and #namibia:

@mayamisikir
@joykirigia
@nrupesh

Use hashtag #journahostQandA to participate

More info here:

https://journa.host/@info/109948675835185770

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