African Americans want more news about issues relating to Africa

TIMES INT'L

Dear Editor,I have been following many of our local media outlets for more than ten years and have noticed, to my disappointment, considerable paucity of coverage on Africa. This could not be based on lack of activity or interest in the continent. After all, Americans of  African descent comprise almost 15% of the U.S. population. Recently, waves of African immigrants have landed on American shores.  New York City has the largest African immigrant population of U.S. metropolises. These groups, and Americans in general, need to know about happenings in the African capitals. As in other parts of the world, every day, week, month and year, negative and positive developments occur in one or other areas of the continent. Since the world has become a village, a stock exchange crash in New York City will affect the Reserve Bank in Johannesburg, South Africa and vice versa. The upcoming controversial national elections in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe are being watched closely by Western countries and, especially, by the U.S. due to their implications on future commercial and political relationships between the two nations. The State Department is particularly worried about the spread of suspected terrorist agents in the Horn of Africa.The media should be reporting about ‘The New York Forum Africa’ that is taking place in Libreville, Gabon. It is a meeting of business leaders and policy makers committed to making Africa a player in world economy. How do the local mass media explain their taciturnity on developments on the continent of the future? Japhet M. ZwanaJamaica, NY

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