Far From the Africa Crowd

Far from taking a vacation, I think vacations are occasions for rest and reflection; I have reading and thinking about the future of Cameroon. I like to say that for those individuals and nations that remain weary, there ought to be no rest. So, my own vacation has been a vacation of work; think, eat, rest, and continuous thinking.
So, I have been reflecting about what is possible for the Cameroon nation other than usual talking about corruption and embezzlement. Besides, what would it take to get the country and its people out of perceived Brokenness, Emptiness and Disconnectedness about the future of the country (B.E.D) BED is a term borrowed from Dr. Peggy Mitchell Norwood, author and Psychologist in Colorado.
My summer vacation destination has been to stay in town and read, for as many times as I can, the book, Do Something Different for a Change. (Norwood, 2008).

I have also been reading The Knowing Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton (Harvard Business press)

How do a lot of the concepts revealed in these books apply to the nation of Cameroon and Africa at large? For that, I have several revelations, gathered in a long form article meant for publication in the future.
More to come.

What are you reading? Please share it with us.

Amani Ali & Nadia Gedeon

The 2009 Colorado Association of Black Journalists (CABJ) annual media awards and scholarship banquet is now history, but the key word that was uttered many times throughout the event was transition to the internet. Keynote speaker, Greg Moore, editor of the Denver Post, the 2009 CABJ-Bertha Lynn Legacy award winner as well as the keven Mcneal Grace under Fire award winner noted that journalism needs to be inclusive, relevant and fair. He also noted that the profession and its business model were under threat, the mold has been broken and it was time for journalists to reinvent themselves during such times.

Mr. Moore, speaking in metaphors, cautioned that “desperation can be invigorating” because, now journalists can make efforts to “do more with less”. Some of the phrases Mr. Moore used to drive home his message and the problems the newspaper industry especially, faces today were as follows:
 Mold already broken
 More cuts probably in the offing
 More vigorous and more rigorous
 Challenging and more fascinating
 Opinion seems to trump facts
 Lack of civility in discussions
 We are in the verification business
 Truth and authority still matters

What should journalists do under these circumstances and challenging times?
Moore cautioned for journalists to properly source stories and for these stories to be accurate and balanced. “I think important journalism costs money”, he said.

The event also saw the introduction of Nadia Gedeon, Nightside Assignment Editor at 9 News as the new president of CABJ. Gedeon takes over from Amani Ali, executive producer at 850 KOA New Radio, who had been president for the last 10 years. The event was sponsored by Kaiser Permanente and Miller Coors and held at the Denver Marriott City