Is Jeff Koinange a hack?
CNN headline news approx 12:25CST
The story is led by 2 anchors asking the question of whether your race...something something...i wish there were transcripts of live broadcasts, better yet, i wish i had tivo. Anyhoo, Jeff is walking with two farmers (they happen to be white zimbabweans) through a mango farm. The farmers were angry about the prospect of having to leave their farms. Jeff's narration continues for a couple of minutes, statistics of how many white farmers have had to leave etc. Cut to a girl walking through (it is not clear if it is the same farm) Ms Nakamuro i think was her name. She says something to the effect of 'let us share, because we do not have anywhere to go'. Narration continues, cut to Robert(Bob)Mugabe in the yellow shirt saying something to the effect of 'this is our land'.
MY BEEF
There was little in the piece in the way of background, such as (subset)
- Why was the land issue not settled after independence? Who is to blame for this?
- Mugabe's race baiting since its election time, and he is of the mesozoic period of dictators not willing to let go of power, stomping on dissent on their way out?
BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT
The piece may have been longer and more nuanced but was edited to fit the headline news format. It came out slant. (As in ooh damn this is unfair to these 2 white dudes iam talking to!- IMO it may well be, though everything is relative.)I asked a colleague their opinion of the piece. He said "well, CNN is largely geared towards a white audience, what did you expect?" hmmmm.I dont know how valid that statement is. What i know for sure, is that I expected better reporting, this story just didnt come out right. He told the story, but what i saw on cnn was told slant.
Unrelated, but i felt compelled to share. Book to check out if you havent read it already: The Zanzibar Chest by Aidan Hartley
The story is led by 2 anchors asking the question of whether your race...something something...i wish there were transcripts of live broadcasts, better yet, i wish i had tivo. Anyhoo, Jeff is walking with two farmers (they happen to be white zimbabweans) through a mango farm. The farmers were angry about the prospect of having to leave their farms. Jeff's narration continues for a couple of minutes, statistics of how many white farmers have had to leave etc. Cut to a girl walking through (it is not clear if it is the same farm) Ms Nakamuro i think was her name. She says something to the effect of 'let us share, because we do not have anywhere to go'. Narration continues, cut to Robert(Bob)Mugabe in the yellow shirt saying something to the effect of 'this is our land'.
MY BEEF
There was little in the piece in the way of background, such as (subset)
- Why was the land issue not settled after independence? Who is to blame for this?
- Mugabe's race baiting since its election time, and he is of the mesozoic period of dictators not willing to let go of power, stomping on dissent on their way out?
BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT
The piece may have been longer and more nuanced but was edited to fit the headline news format. It came out slant. (As in ooh damn this is unfair to these 2 white dudes iam talking to!- IMO it may well be, though everything is relative.)I asked a colleague their opinion of the piece. He said "well, CNN is largely geared towards a white audience, what did you expect?" hmmmm.I dont know how valid that statement is. What i know for sure, is that I expected better reporting, this story just didnt come out right. He told the story, but what i saw on cnn was told slant.
Unrelated, but i felt compelled to share. Book to check out if you havent read it already: The Zanzibar Chest by Aidan Hartley
posted by Afromusing at
3/30/2005 10:00:00 PM
7 Comments:
JJR, thanks..noted about the reporter being a talking head, maybe i should change the title of the post? Come to think of it, it seemed like the piece was edited to come out slant.suggestions on the title?
I just read the NY Times story this morning.I do not know why African leaders like him do not look at Mandela and learn from him. (He didnt hog power...when he could have if he wanted to).I find it very selfish, no consideration of 'the greater good'. I appreciate your comment!
I may not have been very clear about my main beef with the piece, the important elements were present, but the commentary did not give a clear sense of the situation in zim and how it got to be that way...especially for those with minimum knowledge of Zim and its history.
I have seen Jeff Koinange rise to journalistic heights that many of us Kenyans can only dream of. I generally like his reporting: enjoyed his reports from Liberia during the chaos engineered by the mad man Charles Taylor, as well as his occassional reports from Iraq when Saddam was run out of office. I think he is a consumate professional. Missed the piece on CNN from Zimbabwe though, so no comment on that. I am dismayed at the level of complacency displayed by African nations regarding the situation in Zimbabwe. When will our leaders rise and say enough is enough??
True, true, check out this story
from allafrica about SA observer team saying that the elections reflect the will of the people.Looking forward to your blog!hint hint...
I honestly wish I could agree with you all. In my limited personal experience, it seems to me that Koinange has a chip on his shoulder about anything to do with Africa. My apologies, I know this post is about Kenya, however the few reports I have seen him log about Nigeria have been biased towards bad mouthing Nigeria and all things Nigerian. I wish he would go elsewhere are cover other news. I don't believe that Mr. Koinange has the ability to be objective about any issue to do with Africa (whatever that means). I must clarify however, that I am a Nigerian (whatever that means). My apologies for posting off topic.
TBO
I think Jeff's pieces are good. I disagree with Tbo - Jeff covers stories that need worldwide attention, and as most of us know, bad news is news that grabs attention. As for being objective about Africa - all I can say is his passion for this continent definitely shines through.
My 2c.. Serena
It looks like Jeff is off the air with CNN.. something to do with another blog that airs some dirty laundry. I blogged it today.
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