Why am I passionate about this?
I studied reporters' memoirs of Africa for my PhD in journalism at the University of East Anglia, under Giles Foden, author of The Last King of Scotland. I was fascinated by how foreign correspondents are aided by local reporters, who unfortunately often don’t receive much credit or commensurate pay for their contributions to international news. This inequality is changing, but not quickly enough, and it affects the kinds of news that we all receive, and how western lives, for example, are often respected more than others.
Anjan's book list on foreign correspondent memoirs of Africa
Why did Anjan love this book?
One of the first European accounts of Congo, I read this book for my PhD, studying under the British author and journalist Giles Foden.
Pigafetta's account helped me understand the lenses—often colonial, of exoticism, fear, and wonder—through which Congo and Central Africans have long been perceived by Europeans and the world.
Pigafetta writes of Africa as the unknown, the dark, the frightening and mysterious, ideas still present in the news we consume today. I had often wondered why certain stories I pitch never get published, while others are easy sells.
The answers are rooted in events centuries ago, and it's easy to see that when we decide to take a look.
1 author picked A Report of the Kingdom of Congo as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
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