Charlayne Hunter-Gault Discusses New Book on Her Experiences in Africa

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• JEFFREY BROWN:

  Charlayne Hunter-Gault was first in the news in the early 1960s, when she and Hamilton Holmes became the first black students to attend the University of Georgia after well-publicized legal battles. In the years since, she's been covering the news…

  CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT, Author, "New News Out of Africa": Thank you, Jim.

• JEFFREY BROWN:

  … and is, of course, well-known to NewsHour viewers for her nearly 20 years as a correspondent for this program. It was for the NewsHour that Charlayne first went to South Africa in 1985, to cover the struggle against apartheid.

• CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT:

  Meanwhile, as Mr. Mandela spoke, it just seemed as though people came out of nowhere.

• JEFFREY BROWN:

  She was there when Nelson Mandela was elected president in 1994.

• CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT:

  But even those complaining about violence and intimidation say they won't let that stop them from voting.

• JEFFREY BROWN:

  Since 1997, Charlayne has lived in Johannesburg and worked for National Public Radio and CNN.

• CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT:

  It was just over this fence and down under that clump of trees that a skull and bones believed to be those of Nelson Chisale was found.

• JEFFREY BROWN:

  She's witnessed both the struggles and successes of a changing continent these past nine years and now has put her thoughts down in a book, "New News out of Africa: Uncovering Africa's Renaissance."

  Charlayne and I worked together for a number of years. For this conversation, we met up recently at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art in Washington.

  Charlayne, hello.

• CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT:

  Hello.

• JEFFREY BROWN:

  A lot of what you're calling the "new news" is actually good news. Why did you want to write about it?

• CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT:

  Well, you know, let's define the terms, because by good news, I don't mean news that gilds the lily or makes everything look rosy. It's good news in the sense that we always used it at the NewsHour, news that can be used by people, new news that comes out of Africa other than death, disease, disaster and despair.

• JEFFREY BROWN:

  The four D's you talk about.

• CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT:

  The four D's of what I call the African apocalypse, which frames just about everybody's view of Africa. You know, I have lived there now for almost 10 years. And there's a lot more — there's all that, to be sure, but there's even more to the continent than that.

• JEFFREY BROWN:

  Your subtitle has the word "renaissance," though. What do you mean by that?

• CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT:

  Well, there's no renaissance yet, but African leaders, African journalists, African civil society, they're all talking about the possibility of a renaissance. And now there's a new generation of thought, let's say, if not new generation of leaders, because some of them are quite old.

  Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal is a senior citizen, but he's in this new thinking generation that wants to restore credibility to the continent through good governance, through adherence to human rights, the empowerment of women, good fiscal management.

  And so that's what they're looking towards to lead them to the renaissance, but it's not there yet. I mean, if you look at the cover of the book, for example, I helped design that. And I wanted this rising sun, but I didn't want it completely risen.

• JEFFREY BROWN:

  It's not there yet. It's not up.

• CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT:

  It is not up there yet, exactly.