Ndesanjo in Metro: “Now the terrorists have seized the front page, who will tell Africa anything at all?”

[Originally published on Panos London's AfricaVox here.]

A day of high contrast for Ndesanjo, with the relief of finally getting down to business in Gleneagles overshadowed by the attacks on London yesterday.

And I thought, wait a minute, why do the leaders of the world’s most advanced ‘democracies’ meet so far away from the people they represent? Had they committed some heinous crime? [...] And then Thursday morning, ordinary people going to work, picking up groceries, touring London, bore the brunt of someone’s anger against the G8, while the leaders themselves were caged safely away.

Machrine posted for yesterday’s Metro, making a vow to cover climate change when she gets back to Uganda, and her first ever article on this subject asks, Is Africa Burning?

Joel Okao live on Sky News

[Originally published on Panos London's AfricaVox here.]

Joel Okao live (in the background) on Sky News during Prime Minister Tony Blair’s end-of-summit briefing.

John Kamau’s BBC Online diary – Updated links

[Originally published on Panos London's AfricaVox here.]

John has provoked considerable debate over on BBC Online’s pages, and I am not surprised. He’s given a fresh and candid perspective on the experiences of an African journalist covering an international summit, and today’s diary in particular shows the considerable frustrations that African journalists have to put up with in a day’s work:

Yesterday we were told that [the African leaders attending G8] would have a press conference today. But as I write this, no African journalist I have met here seems to know where our presidents are. [...] Unlike in western nations where the presidents and prime ministers are accessible to the local media, for an African journalist, getting an interview with an African president may take a lifetime.

and here’s Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

John Kamau on today’s bombings in London

[Originally published on Panos London's AfricaVox here.]

After this morning’s terror attacks on London, the atmosphere around the Gleneagles media centre changed markedly, and the tone of John’s piece for BBC Online reflects that sombre mood:

The air is now extremely gloomy up here and I am not finding the excitement and energy that I usually see with journalists.

Those from London will be worried about friends, family and colleagues, and those from abroad will perhaps be feeling cut off from the real theatre of action, even as they are appalled at the loss of lives and threats of further terror.

Like John, many of the journalists have seen the aftermath of violence and terror in their own countries, and they’re all shocked by this morning’s events, and, like John, offer their condolences to the people of London.

Ndesanjo on Simon Mayo’s BBC Radio Five Live show

[Originally published on Panos London's AfricaVox here.]

Ndesanjo’s currently on air as part of a four-person panel discussing whether protest works, and if so, what kinds of protest…

Link