Most news about international journalists focuses on reporters imprisoned, killed, or otherwise silenced. Morbid news of this sort does take up some space in the “World Watch” department of Global Journalist (issue not available online), but the magazine is adept at balancing stories about the challenges journalists face with the positive achievements of media-makers worldwide.
The Spring issue of Global Journalist, published by the Missouri Journalism School, features a photo essay of an Afghan family grieving the death of a young mother. The images, by photojournalist Jean Chung, offer an intimate glimpse into maternal deaths in Afghanistan, which claims the world’s second highest maternal mortality rate. Another story traces how Kenya’s government increased control over the media, hoping it could also control post-election violence. I also enjoyed a quick two-page primer explaining why Russian journalism programs fail to produce critical reporters. There’s a string of rosier stories, too, about the importance of covering women’s news, generous media attention given to the Australian prime minister’s apology to Aboriginal people, and a program to empower Brazilian youth by creating a community newspaper.
