“The Africanists” is made up of journalists, analysts and opinion-makers that have all intensely been following events in Africa for decades. Their shared aim of collecting, digesting and providing quality information on this very diverse continent had led them to join forces and create this site.
Quality reporting on issues in Africa has all but disappeared from the print media. After a peak in more and better reporting, which started in the 1980s and continued into the 1990s, declining markets for print media have badly affected high-standard journalism, worldwide.
The rapid rise of global news-TV in the 1990s, followed by the advance of the Internet as primary source of news and information have meant that money, time, energy and space for in-depth reporting have diminished. Print media have moved from depth to width, covering as many incidents as possible, while the most popular TV and Internet media follow hype upon hype.
However, we too see the advantages the Internet offers. News consumers seek sources of specialised information that is no longer widely available. The niche of knowledge and insight into undercurrents, backgrounds, and trends in Africa – we think – still leaves lots to be desired. And it is this niche we, as makers behind “the Africanists” seek to fill.
But to be able to do so, we need you: we need you as a reader; we need you as a contributor.
Are you a journalist, an analyst, an opinion-maker, an activist? Have you a good and sharp pen, a curious mind, and an honest approach? Contact us with your ideas, and we offer you a platform to share them.
We focus on text, audio, video and photography. If you feel comfortable producing stories through any of those means, we are keen to publish. If you have already published them elsewhere, a link under the article should state that fact.
The Africanists is open for everybody with his or her mind and heart in Africa. No abuse or discrimination of any nature, however, will be tolerated.