Comments on: Out of Africa http://blogs.reuters.com/reuters-editors/2007/02/26/out-of-africa/ Our editors & readers talk Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:43:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Motazz soliman http://blogs.reuters.com/reuters-editors/2007/02/26/out-of-africa/#comment-294795 Motazz soliman Thu, 06 Sep 2007 18:29:06 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/reuters-editors/2007/02/26/out-of-africa/#comment-294795 I concur with Bk and others above about the lack in availablity of "african-centered" and "african-based" news coverage. A few years ago, when I was pursuing a college degree focusing regionally on Africa, the most reliable way to get verifiable information regarding current news (as references for position and research papers) was restricted to only a few good sites, namely the BBC and allAfrica.com. The sites are excellent ones in their own right, especially allAfrica.com, which brought coverage from a diverse selection of Africa-based newspapers/newsources. Given Reuter's strong journalistic name and reputation, I would expect the addition of the new Reuters' Africa page to the current 'coverage community' to spark greater competition over current-events news coverage of Africa, and thus help to expand the window on the relatively-neglected continent. I concur with Bk and others above about the lack in availablity of “african-centered” and “african-based” news coverage.

A few years ago, when I was pursuing a college degree focusing regionally on Africa, the most reliable way to get verifiable information regarding current news (as references for position and research papers) was restricted to only a few good sites, namely the BBC and allAfrica.com. The sites are excellent ones in their own right, especially allAfrica.com, which brought coverage from a diverse selection of Africa-based newspapers/newsources.

Given Reuter’s strong journalistic name and reputation, I would expect the addition of the new Reuters’ Africa page to the current ‘coverage community’ to spark greater competition over current-events news coverage of Africa, and thus help to expand the window on the relatively-neglected continent.

]]> By: Paschal Eze http://blogs.reuters.com/reuters-editors/2007/02/26/out-of-africa/#comment-156969 Paschal Eze Tue, 27 Mar 2007 08:58:30 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/reuters-editors/2007/02/26/out-of-africa/#comment-156969 David, I must commend you for recognising that there is more to African than civil wars and AIDS. Many glaringly newsworthy things happen in Africa and the mainstream media should give Africa the non-biased attention it deserves. Paschal Eze http://blackvertiser.com David,
I must commend you for recognising that there is more to African than civil wars and AIDS. Many glaringly newsworthy things happen in Africa and the mainstream media should give Africa the non-biased attention it deserves.
Paschal Eze
http://blackvertiser.com

]]> By: David Schlesinger http://blogs.reuters.com/reuters-editors/2007/02/26/out-of-africa/#comment-152204 David Schlesinger Thu, 15 Mar 2007 14:41:26 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/reuters-editors/2007/02/26/out-of-africa/#comment-152204 We've now added a full range of <a href="http://africa.reuters.com/about/rss.html">RSS feeds</a> including one per country. All suggestions for improvements greatly appreciated. We’ve now added a full range of RSS feeds including one per country. All suggestions for improvements greatly appreciated.

]]> By: plastic http://blogs.reuters.com/reuters-editors/2007/02/26/out-of-africa/#comment-150924 plastic Sun, 11 Mar 2007 18:19:22 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/reuters-editors/2007/02/26/out-of-africa/#comment-150924 Africa for the rest of the world sounds great. How will be the sound of: the rest of the world for Africa? Africa for the rest of the world sounds great.
How will be the sound of: the rest of the world for Africa?

]]> By: John C Abell http://blogs.reuters.com/reuters-editors/2007/02/26/out-of-africa/#comment-147235 John C Abell Wed, 28 Feb 2007 18:34:41 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/reuters-editors/2007/02/26/out-of-africa/#comment-147235 Apart from the laudable choice of this continent to highlight, the new Africa website strikes me as a test of how to professional and amateur journalism can cohabitate. It is becoming more common for news sites to offer blogs outside of their control but these pages seem to promote to a greater extent the news value of blogs in an under-reported area precisely why readers are turning to blogs in droves. It may also provide some intriguing lab results on how the public perceives the difference -- if it does - and which readers tend to prefer in times of crisis vs. calm. But there are some usability issues for the site. That there is no search capability at all seems odd, or do I just not see it? And since there is no story prioritization within the countries, country-specific search as well would seem to be a way to approximate order, at personal level at that. It may just be an old bad habit to ask but I also wonder if the news editing philosophy of the prioritized categories embraces news significant to Africa from non-African datelines (besides the UN). It is fair to say that this site is meant only to provide news from the continent, but it would be curious to say the least that a story about some nation sending troops to Darfur wouldnt make the cut until a) the government of Sudan reacted or b) they got there. Apart from the laudable choice of this continent to highlight, the new Africa website strikes me as a test of how to professional and amateur journalism can cohabitate. It is becoming more common for news sites to offer blogs outside of their control but these pages seem to promote to a greater extent the news value of blogs in an under-reported area precisely why readers are turning to blogs in droves. It may also provide some intriguing lab results on how the public perceives the difference — if it does - and which readers tend to prefer in times of crisis vs. calm.

But there are some usability issues for the site. That there is no search capability at all seems odd, or do I just not see it? And since there is no story prioritization within the countries, country-specific search as well would seem to be a way to approximate order, at personal level at that.

It may just be an old bad habit to ask but I also wonder if the news editing philosophy of the prioritized categories embraces news significant to Africa from non-African datelines (besides the UN). It is fair to say that this site is meant only to provide news from the continent, but it would be curious to say the least that a story about some nation sending troops to Darfur wouldnt make the cut until a) the government of Sudan reacted or b) they got there.

]]> By: BK http://blogs.reuters.com/reuters-editors/2007/02/26/out-of-africa/#comment-146179 BK Mon, 26 Feb 2007 18:03:02 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/reuters-editors/2007/02/26/out-of-africa/#comment-146179 This is wonderful. My family has always resorted to African-based websites as a viable news source, and sometimes BBC. CNN and other news sources never covered the information we needed to know and, also as stated in this article, only cover disasters. It's great to know that there is yet another source we can refer to for specific news from the various African countries we personally have a vested interest in. This is wonderful. My family has always resorted to African-based websites as a viable news source, and sometimes BBC. CNN and other news sources never covered the information we needed to know and, also as stated in this article, only cover disasters. It’s great to know that there is yet another source we can refer to for specific news from the various African countries we personally have a vested interest in.

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