Fledgling African journalists association is determined to change mainstream media coverage of Africa and Africans
By B. Denise Hawkins
WASHINGTON
The only way that Eyobong Ita knows how to dream is big, even when the numbers are down and the stakes are high. The two-day
A year ago, Ita, a Nigerian-born reporter for the Kansas City Star, had an idea for an organization that could help give fellow Africans much-needed guidance and “a second chance on pursuing journalism here.”
Approximately 60 African journalists working in the United States heeded his call. That core group used the UNITY journalism convention meeting in Washington, D.C., to inaugurate an organization of their own, NAAJ. But for the newly formed organization to really stand on its own, it had to have a venue that it could call home.
That venue wasn’t long in coming. At its awards gala Sept. 10, NAAJ announced that Howard University had offered the organization rent-free office space in the John H. Johnson School of Communications. The office, located on the lower level of the School of Communications, has space for a conference room and a main office and will be used as the organization’s secretariat.
