MARYSVILLE — Seniors at Marysville-Pilchuck High School crammed into two classrooms Thursday morning to learn a little about politics from some of Africa’s top journalists.
In one room, journalists from Angola, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zimbabwe sat in desks. They answered questions from students in Ryan Hauck’s Advanced Placement contemporary governments and politics class.
The journalists were part of a group of 19 African print, radio and broadcast journalists participating in the Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists. The program is part of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program, a professional exchange program.
The visitors started their trip on Oct. 25 in Washington, D.C. They traveled to St. Petersburg, Fla., and arrived in Seattle on Wednesday. They will stay in the state until Tuesday when they leave for their final leg of their journey in New York City.
Students asked about censorship, how political campaigns are run in Africa and about the political structures of the individual countries.
Candidates in the West African country of Liberia use posters on the walls of buildings, broadcast media and text messages to deliver messages during elections, said Julius Kanubah, a legislative reporter and producer of Star Radio, an independent station.
“In Liberia, the media operate in a free environment,” he said when a student asked him about censorship. “The only area where there is a problem is broadcast. The opposition politicians, they complain they do not have access to this media.
“As journalists, our work comes with responsibility,” Kanubah added. “If you publish a malicious story you could be taken to court.”
One Rabantheng, who heads up local productions at E-Botswana TV, explained that broadcasters in her southern African country follow strict guidelines or face sanctions.
“For broadcasters, they are regulated by a code of ethics,” she said. “They are told how much of each candidate or party you can carry in 24 hours.”
Some students were surprised when print journalist Caesar Abagali pulled out his cell phone to share a text message he received during an election in Ghana. He noticed some students seemed to be shocked that he had a cell phone.
So Abagali, a reporter with Ghana News Agency, asked students to give their impressions of Africa.
“I think growing up we’re really ignorant to the cultures in Africa so we get this idea of elephants and giraffes,” said Andi Adams, 17.
Students were also asked how there can be a better exchange of ideas between people in Africa and the United States.
“More things like this,” said Connor Hemming, 17. “This is so different from what we usually do in class. It’s great when we actually get to talk to people who represent these countries that we don’t know about.”
Hauck said he has been to Nigeria several times and often talks about Africa in his classroom.
“We talk about the misconceptions of the continent and how some people talk about Africa as one country instead of an entire continent,” he said. “That’s something I’m really passionate about, that students leave my class knowing that Africa is full of diverse cultures, political systems, languages, all of those things.”
Amy Daybert: 425-339-3491; adaybert@heraldnet.com.
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