TABLE OF CONTENTS
American
European
African
Global Reflections
"My dream for this trip is that together we might do the things so that 100 years from now your grandchildren and mine will look back and say this was the beginning of a new African renaissance." -- Bill Clinton, March 23, 1998, Accra, Ghana
INTRODUCTION
This page is a review and critique of the media coverage of President William Jefferson Clinton's historic trip to Africa in March and April of 1998. It was originally authored by undergraduate students at The College of New Jersey in 1998, and received a "makeover" in June of 2001.An extension of Dr. Gloria Dickinson's and Dr. Mohammed Ismail's "International Studies: Africa" course, this project will attempt to compile and condense articles from American, European, and African media sources. Readers will be able to use these resources to analyze any biases or foci peculiar to the coverage in each locale.
Also included will be the final exam papers written by the members of
the class, which are critiques of the particular media outlets the students
used in their essays.
HOW TO NAVIGATE THIS SITE
The links listed on the Table of Contents will take you to analyses of each of the three media source locations covered by the class: America, Europe, and Africa. The first link provides an overview of the trip, with profiles of each of the 6 countries on Clinton's itinerary. In each of the remaining links you will find additional links to the individual media sources the members of the class studied, i.e. CNN on the American page, BBC on the European page, etc. These links will contain the articles collected (by date), and a critical discussion of that medium's coverage of the event.A Note from the Original Writer of this Site
ABOUT THE SECTIONS
Trip Overview
Follow this link to see exactly when,
where, and why President Clinton voyaged. Profiles of
the nations Clinton visited are also provided.
Clinton's Issues and Topics
This link provides a listing of all the individual issues and topics
that came up throughout Clinton's visit. Under each topic, numerous articles
which highlight that particular issue will be found.
Press Coverage is divided into the following sub-sections:
- America
- Europe
- Africa
In this section, read how sources such as CNN and the New York Times covered the President's visit to Africa. This event was especially important to America, as Clinton became the first president in over 20 years to visit sub-Saharan Africa. America's economic interests in the continent would be a top priority, and the memories of the slave trade would linger, as Americans would face some of the sites where the horrors of the trade took place. Also, Clinton was facing accusations at home about a relationship with a certain intern named Monica Lewinsky. Discover what American journalists had to say about this historic visit and that soon to be historic scandal.
Relative to America and Africa, Europe was a somewhat objective third party in the coverage of the visit. Thus, a very different view of the trip is presented by journalists from France, England, and other European nations. The views of the BBC and the London Times are a few of the outlets to be found in the "Europe" section.
The Africans themselves provided possibly the most insightful coverage of the American visit. The people of Africa were supposed to be the ones most effected by Clinton's visit, as a new understanding about the African continent was to be forged, and policies that would be for the betterment of the common African would be discussed. Thus, the real issues are argued by African writers in sources such as the Nigerian Post Express and the PanAfrican News Agency.
Click here for a list of links dealing directly with Clinton's trip and others which address the overall issues discussed during the trip.
Suggested Assignments
A few exercises to get you thinking about the different viewpoints
the media sources from each continent took.
Student Papers
Click here to read the insights provided on the coverage
by the original student writers.