a room. here is my cousin in 2014 who is murdered in a tent ament in san francisco actually recycling the kind of life that my father had almost 90 years before. this is the kind of context in the community that asian-american reporters can bring to the story if they have the courage to tell that story and if their editors have the courage to let them tell that story. so many times they do not. i have to tell you a very disheartening tale. i wasn't to the investigative reporters conference in june before this and an asian-american reporter came to me. she was an immigrant starter and had a fairly well off upper middle class life and she said i don't know how to be an asian-american reporter. i don't know how to cover this story. she was a chinese-american.

her parents were taiwan intellectuals. their stories need to be told. maybe the first story they need to learn is what it means to be asian-american, what it means to be an asian-american now and in 2014. we have been telling the stories over and over again. when i was at npr in 1989 i thought i

news room and they didn't know what to do with the story. 300,000 filipinos in the bay area. they didn't know what to do with the story. did they send the filipino-american? they asked me and i said this is a story. they said not sure. as i said, i practically had to give them -- we didn't have the internet them. i had to say look at the numbers.

they are not just in daly city. then they finally sent me. it was 1983 in august so that is when there was the assassio story. since then in 1987 when the philippines fell every station sent an anchor to cover the story because they knew how important it was. so that is a way that a failure turned it around and it became a big story. >> you backed it up with numbers. >> they expect numbers from asians. >> when i was on the morning show "good day new york" on fox 5 in new york i remember pitching the story because i had heard when i first moved to new york and i didn't believe this when i first moved to new york that there had never been an asian-american in state or local

level in politics. i said this is a great story, this young person running for office, john lu, he became a councilman and i think he is running for something again. they said that doesn't sound like a good story. it is really sometimes about who you are pitching to. so you go to someone else in the news room so i pitched to someone else, just keep repitching. so the executive producer of "good day" said that sounds like a great story. i work on the morning show so it meant i had to work on the story on my own time afterwards. for those of you who work morning shows it means working a super long day when i am supposed to be sleeping. sure enough the story ran and the ratings, there was a blip. they saw the spike. so i was able to do a three-part series after that that did really, really well. so sometimes it just has to be

pitching it to the right person. sometimes the news room is diverse, people from the newsroom may not get it. they have to find people who may get it and find it to be an interesting story and like me having to work it almost on your free time. >> i am trying to think of a good example where it bombed terribly. i think part of the issue that can come up with covering immigration and being product of immigrants is that you can sometimes be your own worse enemy. i mean it in a good and bad way, i guess. my example is we wanted to do a story about the smithsonian had an exhibit beyond ballywood and

the jersey of the basketball player. i thought that would be pretty neat. i don't do radio. i'm a digital producer for a radio show. our producer was like why don't you do the radio piece. i was like what? why? so i started freaking out but i was like i can do this. he is based in texas. so we did a phone interview. it was great. he said my mom is the one who taught me basketball, this older indian woman who was like 6 foot tall, i was very impressed. she was the biggest spurs fan. help me. yes. san antonio spurs. >> the mavericks -- >> i was like basketball cool.

she was talking about how she would shout at games and basketball players are like keep it you are

brown, what is up with that? i wasn't going to do that because i wasn't like on this soap box while covering the story. i was like that would have been such a great question to ask of so you where a turbine while you play basketball. that is crazy. do you get hot. do you like powder or something? what is the tactic? >> he is like is that rude to ask, i didn't mean to ask you that. i am actually curious, too. it was one of those moments where i was like too busy pretending to be very proud and like we are all politically correct here. that would have been such a simple question. >> a simple question that a lot of people -- >> one of the things he mentioned during our interview

was that he is glad seeing more people wearing turbines playing basketball. it is something that would have been interesting to address. i am like i never asked him if he got sweaty. >> the little dagger. >> i don't think he wears one. >> i guess that is my missed opportunity to some degree. >> i guess the story that i can think of is the danny shin story. i was producer before a reporter. this was when there was a trial happening when the chinese-american soldier from new york china town. he within months after he enlisted and being stationed in

afghanistan he shot himself and committed suicide in afghanistan after being called lots of different racial slurs and being physically abused. it was a case that got a lot of asian-american activists very concerned about mistreatment based on race in the military. so this was a story that went on because so many were prosecuted. i pitched we should do an interview checking in on this case. it has been a few months since it happened. we should check in. i didn't get much of a response. and i was disappointed that i felt like this is a story that amongest the asian-american community this is a conversation. what does it mean when there are so few asian-americans serving the military. here we have a prominent example and what does that mean?

so what i took away from that is when i became a reporter there was an opera recently premiered here in washington, d.c. about him. it was an opportunity to do a story about the opera. i remember a colleague coming up to me saying thank you for doing that. thank you for reminding us that this happened. this is something that is still really fresh in a lot of people's minds within the asian-american community. persistence. if you believe in a story is it unfair that you have to think so creatively to wait for another peg? maybe. it is about getting the story out there. if you believe this is a solid story. this is talking about an issue. look for another opportunity to do it. the other thing is that often at npr we are multi platform.

we have a robust online reporting. many times i come up with a story idea that won't fly on the radio because often we need a hard news peg because the pieces i offer up would be in the middle of a really news-driven news magazine. maybe it is a blog post or maybe it is a social media callout. there are different ways of getting the story out there. if you get no within a certain format or platform look for other ways. >> that is a good point. that wasn't around back in 1990. this is an example of what persistence will do. it is also a function of how the media works. we are followers. you go to your editors in the morning. what do they do? they have the clips and look at what the competition is doing. this is a story about a guy named manual furgante. he was in honolulu and was fired

by the city of honolulu because he talked like this. he talked with an accent and he said all people did not understand me so they fired me. i am going to sue. so he sued. people now are used to hearing the accent and they think that's a bad lame comedian kind of thing. back then he sued. the case went to the supreme court. at "all things considered" i said we ought to cover this story. they didn't want to do it. look it's in the "l.a. times" and the "new york times." after several weeks the supreme court finally came down and said they threw out the case and weren't going to cover it. so you can still be sued for accent discrimination because the supreme court did not take

up that case. look it up. that was back in 1990. very important case. you don't hear about it much. we did finally ultimately cover it because the editors at major news organizations do look at what they are all doing. when it was in the "new york times" they said you can talk to him. his voice was on npr on "all things considered" on the weekend where they stick the minorities on the weekend. the story was out. you are doing a great job right now. you have come a long way. >> just to be fair part of the switch which is part of a larger unit which is culture and identity unit. we have teams in place. that sounds like a story that we would run with. >> you would run with it now, but 25 years ago -- >> before we go down another

route, i want to open it up to questions because we are running out of time. i wanted to open it up to you guys. you guys have at it. questions for our panelists or me, too. >> i will make a comment. i think it is great that -- i love all the stuff you are doing and your team is doing. at npr they needed to do that. npr had a reputation of not being diverse in the coverage. they had to hire a vice president of diversity to adjust the news coverage a few years ago. i guess me comments is that ultimately the goal should be that we don't have to label these stories code switch stories. it is great they are mixed in whether morning edition throughout the day and the week and the stories are dropped in

as much as when you go to the web that you have to look for them. maybe it is good that you look for them under a category. where feel like it is a race story. if you are liberal and progressive and interested in race issues, if you are a person of color you can go here. so i look forward to a day when we don't have to do that, but that we pitch stories and they get covered because they are important stories and they don't have to be labelled a certain way. and but i love the stuff that you are doing. i applaud you for that. >> thank you. >> if i can quickly respond. i totally hear you. what we are striving for at code switch we have the culture identity unit, all three projects focus on stories about race but we are trying to tell them in a way that hopefully no one else in the country, no other media outlet is doing,

trying to come up with ways that we are covering stories that are in the headlines like the trayvon martin case, for example. every media outlet was covering it. we were trying to come up with angles that no one else was doing. and another thing that we are also doing at npr which i hope that other news organizations are doing is the increased push for diverse sources not just in our unit that national desk editors, reporters are thinking about stories about the economy, about jobs, other kind of regular beats that we are looking beyond just our regular go-to people. that equally is important. >> could you talk some more about other stories recently that are impacting asian-american communities that you think were uncovered in the

international media? >> i would say almost anything. >> i think that story was under covered in the media. i interviewed the parents. and it took a lot of work to get the parents to talk to us. they are reeling from the loss of their only son. they don't speak english. they don't speak mandarin or cant cantonese. we had to find someone to do the interpretation for us. that was difficult to find. there was also the after math. i think it is like the mainstream media, i worked in local news for so long. you are in there when it is bad and then you leave and you don't really follow up to see did anything happen since then? what laws were passed. president obama signed antihazing laws. just recently they unveiled

danny chin way down in china town where he grew up. that is where he was born in china town. our show was able to do that follow up. you are not going to see that in mainstream media. >> there is a lot of -- take the story in santa barbara. i knew -- well, i didn't know. i had a sense he was half. he looked half. he was half. his mother on his mother's side and on the blog i immediately started writing about that aspect. you saw that it is really one of the most under covered aspects of that story. that is most recent. you can see asian aspects in stories that just aren't

considered important enough. maybe on story. long walk off a short pier. it is up to asian-american reporters to identify that. if there are asian-american editors that would make it even easier. hopefully that is the failure of the generation that came before a lot of you millennials that a lot didn't get up to that status or not enough so that they can make those decisions. more are, but we still have these stories that are under covered. and that is really -- that really fails a society that needs to know what america is becoming. they need to know these stories. >> i think numbers. we don't have a lot of numbers, data about the asian american community. i am talking about health statistics and voting statistics. the reason is because of the vast diversity, the language issues. can you find enough survey

takers to speak so many different languages to get a truly comprehensive look at all of the different communities within the asian-american community. so i think we need to do more stories about where are the holes? that has so many implications regarding policy and influences how different politicians think about what is going on in their districts and communities that have a specific need within the asian-american communities. i think we need to break apart the idea that by numbers asian-american community is a small group within the united states. there are parts of this country where asian-americans are becoming the majority. i did a story about the congressional race in the silicon valley. it is a fascinating look at the only second congressional district in the country after hawaii that is asian majority.

it is fascinating to see what are the numbers when two aren't asian american? what does it mean regarding participation? it hasn't happened before. this is happening. it will happen more so. asian-americans are the fastest growing racial demographic right now. this will become the new reality. this is not breaking news. unfortunately, a lot of news rooms it is. >> also, don't forget the diversity within the asian american community. you will see it in the affirmative action story where you have more conservative asians or people who feel they have been victims of affirmative action rather than people who have been helped. i think you find asian-americans have been helped more than they have been victimized. that is the ongoing debate

especially among young people who see the numbers at college admissions level trying to figure out where asians on that issue. i think if you cover that story you know it is a difficult story to get at it. >> i am a journalist from the san francisco area. i did a fellowship project that focused on a two-part series on depression and suicide on asian college students. when you mentioned elliot rogers, half asian ancestry how would you have handled that? >> you know the mental health story there is that he rejected treatment. he didn't take his medicine apparently if you believe his manifesto. he had a dim view of treatment. i think that you cover the facts as they present themselves. and i think -- i don't think --

broadening it out to the general asian-american community i think i would have done -- i would have taken the approach about how asian-americans feel about mental health in general which is they usually see it as not something for them. i would rather go see the wiseman or the priest or a close family member. that's sort of where i think a lot of the communities are. it depends on which wave of immigration you are on. if you are a recent immigrant you will keep it within the family. if you are like third or fourth generation maybe you have gone beyond because you have a psychiatrist in the family. >> that's a good point about the wave of the immigrant community and that is something for global nation we have been talking about that we are not talking

about immigrant community like people who just got here but like the children of immigrants with the name story that is something that cropped up. i think that is important to figure out. i don't think there is a good answer for that but it is something to consider. i feel like on our team we have been talking about like what are we talking about? are we talking about the children of immigrants? those children's children? what are we talking about exactly? i think there is a different take. >> but this is one of those holes because when you talk about mental illness or depression, depression comes up because robin williams has committed suicide. there is no asian-american take on that necessarily. if you are an asian-american reporter you might find a way to delve into that topic. i like to take a national news story and take about an asian-american perspective. on ferguson i just wrote

something today about how i was in kentucky recently and nearly got arrested because i was demanding my consumer rights at a rental car place. i was considered unruly. the guy called the police and the police showed up. he didn't say can i see your papers but asked me for my i.d. legally you can refuse to give your i.d. but you will incur the wrath of law enforcement. so i gave my i.d. this was a similar situation where i was right up there to the line where if i did one false move i know because i'm an unruly brown -- probably thinks oriental. i was an unruly non-white person. probably some serious stuff would happen to me. these are approaches that as a

columnist i can write an asian-american perspective about these real stories and i tried to do that. i tried to take something in the headlines. i wrote about gaza by talking about an asian-american i know who is now in israel and lives there and has taken a totally upset view. as they used to say to me when i was a young reporter there are no uninteresting stories, only dull approaches to interesting stories. and if you are beat there is always a story there. >> a couple more questions. >> quick question because i want to ask you. you are not mainstream media. you are a blogger but you are a blogger that i would guess most if not everybody in this room reads. you are a source for a lot of information. you pass a lot of information

through. what is the role of asian-american bloggers because we have a strong voice as you know? the mainstream media and asian-american nation media tends to look down on bloggers cht what do you think the role is? >> i have never considered myself a traditional journalist and never intended for that to happen. it evolves over time. now i kind of see myself -- i never really break stories but i always come across stories that i would like to amplify. i understand there are a lot of asian-americans who read my blog. they are coming to the blog because they are not coming through mainstream sources. they would rather sort of one

person or one person's perspective. i see myself as more -- as kind of the role of a town crier in a lot of ways. i see a lot of stuff that i feel like a lot of people -- my audience is not strictly asian-american but there is value in having this asian-american community in one place. that is kind of the role. i cover a lot of different kinds of things across the board, crime, a lot of pop culture stuff because that is personally what i am interested in. hate crimes and then the racist stuff. a very popular thing on the site is called asians behaving badly. i think people like to see that stuff, too. it is a little more well rounded version of our community. >> are you talking about immigrants or talking about real

asians? >> it doesn't matter. >> for the sake of my own sanity most of my coverage is based in the united states or north america. so kind of -- to extend it out to all of asia there are plenty of like asians behaving badly. >> i know. i think that is the problem with the mainstream, too, because sometimes there is the confusion between asian and asian-american. asian-american baseball players. are the asian pitchers who are immigrants, not immigrants, they are here, they are nationals. are they asian-american? i think if there was an asian-american all star team i would put tim lincecum who is quarter filipino, he had a no-hitter this year. >> i covered that. >> i'm just saying that sometimes you cover this.

you see the guy on the yankees who is really good? you don't cover sports? >> we have one more question over here. >> when you are facing pitches for stories or new businesses or blogs, so much especially in established media is focused on diversity for african-americans and latinos. other than saying it is the fastest growing -- or asian-american are the fastest growing demographic, what are the strategies? >> a lot of buying power. you see it as a vertical. >> it's all about business has so much diversity to go around. >> it just has to be an interesting story. when you talk about the modern

minority. you hear that one out of four kids in new york city are not graduating on time. i thought they were all going to harvard. that is something that can pique the interest of some producer. it is really finding interesting stories that make them go i had no idea that was going on. >> they also have to know the world isn't just black and white anymore. if you look at ferguson you might say 50 years after civil rights it is still black and white. i lived in st. louis. i used to be a broadcaster in st. louis in the '70s. the fact is this is incumbent on the asian-american journalists who say to show them the census and look at the numbers and justify it. saying something about how you look at the poll numbers and they haven't figured out a way to get at a scientifically

substantial -- something that is really valued scientifically or a sample size. the sample size is hard. you look at filipinos, we are the worst to pull because they think we are latino and that is one of the hardest things about doing a poll. is this guillermo a filipino or is he hispanic. i have been complaining about poll methods for the last two decades. some people are getting it right. some of the guys out of uc river side does a great election poll. he takes the time to get the right sample size so that you know that you are dealing with something that is scientifically valid. it is hard and it costs money. >> i would say it is about

education, too. i think it is monday through friday and 3:00 to 4:00. it is happening right now. when the dust settles like you had asked a great question about stories that were not getting coverage. i thought about the shooting in wisconsin. we didn't touch it because we were covering unaccompanied minors crossing the border. when the dust settled we were like why didn't we touch that? what were we missing? what was going through our heads during the daily news grind that we were like why didn't we cover this? we have a very diverse news room. there were a lot of questions that came up. people were like -- i feel like this is the lesson where like i

don't know if it is okay or not. it is something if somebody that question then figuring out a way to anchor that story like it has been two years since the shooting in wisconsin. what don't we know yet? the shooting happened. there is always that feature that is like the sheik in america for this long and the numbers. i agree with the numbers but people have basic questions like what does it mean? is there a cultural tie in with this shooting that nobody is talking about? i think that is also like a big issue, having those conversations in the news room. it is very hard to do that especially in a fast paced news room. it is something i think needs to happen more. >> we have the last question. >> so i'm 1.5 generation born in

asia but raised in the u.s. as a journalist who has gone through that work and then affiliated it is very interesting to me that still today managers don't like voices with accents, people who look a little bit too wild, people who are a bit too exotic. i guess my question is how do you strike that balance that you know is discriminating? you know that managers should be should be considering so that you don't speak english but you live and have this in the u.s. for decades who continue to be a very big part of america but just don't have the voice? i'm wondering why did you leave npr for example? >> long story. >> but also how do you navigate

that because those are the missing voices in all of these stories often. we can't access that if we can't listen to the accents that are too hard. >> you are saying your managers have told you we don't want that on our air. >> they don't want accents or your accent? your accent is fine? >> people we are interviewing. i worked in sacramento and in orange county, california and in new york. i never had a manager say that. if it is difficult and it doesn't matter what language they speak -- >> it does happen. i have seen it happen recently. >> not that we don't take them off. we put a translator or something to help. >> put subtitles. i have seen that and i am amazed. i can hear it. this is kind of you know the

audience they presume is all white and not very patient and will be turned off by this. and this is why there is this mad rush to get the news into these other channels. it is not going to be mainstream unless you -- unless there are people who are visionaries who will say this is mainstream america. this is what america locks like. when people realize that california isn't an anomaly but is, in fact, the way of american society, then putting the accent thing will not be a big barrier because they will say we will just subtitle it which is also kind of a little insulting. if it helps in the communication then i'm all for that. i have seen that. i can't recall right now and i know i was kind of shocked

myself that they went to that extent. there were some people who are american and who are white and maybe from other parts of the country who are native americans who i would put a subtitle to understand that. >> they subtitle honey booboo's family. i'm serious, they do. >> i ink the that is all the time we've got. thank you all for coming. please thank our panelists. have a great convention. >> asian-american life debuted the twitter site today so if you can all follow us that would be awesome. spread the word. >> are we giving plugs here? >> i would like to plug asian-american legal defense and education fund blog.

>> follow global nation on twitter. we have radio reporters with thick accents. they are awesome and are amazing story tellers. if you want to hear accents. bring your accents, we want them all. >> you should follow @npr code switch. and the first in a seven part series on the roosevelts premiered last night on pbs by ken burns. we will hear from him at 12:30 eastern time on c-span 2. and here on c-span 3 president obama will award the medal of honor to two vietnam era veterans. you can watch live coverage from the white house at 1:50 p.m. eastern. to capitol hill the house and senate both in. house starting legislative work at 4:00 p.m. with more than a dozen bills on the schedule

including one dealing with steroid trafficking. you can watch the house live on c-span and the senate gaveling in at 2:00. you can watch that live on c-span 2. the house rules committee is supposed to meet considering a resolution to temporarily fund the government and related agencies. c-span's cameras will be there. we will take you live to the rules committee. you can tune in also to the meeting streaming live online at c span.org. tonight on the communicateers california democratic representative, ranking member on the house subcommittee on communications and technology talks about net neutrality and rules governing the internet. >> i spoke publically about what i thought they should do to be on firmer legal ground and pointed to title two.

now, we have had fast forward, we have had discussions at the committee about it. this is all about net neutrality, obviously. people in our country feel very, very strongly about the internet, not only how they use it but how they think about it. and the access to it and should it be free and open and that no one, no isp or anyone should be able to interfere with that. >> tonight at 8:00 eastern on the communicateers on c-span 2. with live coverage of the u.s. house on c-span and senate on c-span 2. here on c-span 3 we show the most relevant hearings and public affairs events. on the weekends c-span 3 is the home to american history tv.

american artifacts, touring museums and historic sites to discover what artifacts reveal. history book shelf, look at best known american history writers. the presidency. lectures in history with top college professors. and our new series reel america featuring films from the 1930s to the 1970s. c-span 3 funded by your local cable or satellite provider. watch us in hd, like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. entrepreneurs and business leaders gathered this summer to discuss strategies for innovation and economic growth and development in africa. speakers included the heads of several african initiatives with companies including microsoft, ge and safari com.

the bookings institution hosted the event. it is about 90 minutes. >> in april this year nigeria faced the economy overtaking south africa's economy. several weeks later headlines by abducting nearly 300 school girls in northern nigeria. in june kenya's bond offering drew $8 billion in orders making it one of the most successful bond offerings by any government from africa ever. they launched terror attacks against civilians threatening to make the world heritage site a no go area and damaging is vitally important for industry. last week a leading newspaper which shall go unmentioned for right now, read a story about problems that might be caused in

washington due to the african leaders summit and pivoted to quotes from the federal official assuring americans that the ebola outbreak in west africa poses no significant risks in the united states. these pardocketical developments reflect the challenge that americans have in understanding africa. once dominated almost exclusively by notions of war, extreme povertity today many people see africa for business opportunities and amazing tourist destinations. it is important to ask whether american perceptions of africa are really changing. and what more can be done to accent wait the positive news. how do we think american perceptions of the continent to address development challenges while african middle class continues to expand.

how can americans work and various conflicts and to eliminate extreme poverty while not perpetuating outdating views. what is the role of u.s. in changing how africa is received. i am a nonresident follower at brookings and senior international adviser for llp. i welcome you to this interesting conversation. to help us sort through these issues we have a most distinguished panel. we have a co-founder and chairman of all africa global media known to most of you i hope as allafrica.com. we have williams wallace.

next to me is helen cooper, the white house correspondent for "new york times" and author of "the house at sugar beach" which was a "new york times" best seller. we also have co founder of and renowned human rights activist who worked for peace in africa for over 25 years. and we are also pleased to have the five-time grammy nominating artist who established the confidence foundation that benefits under served children in africa and the united states. before i turn to our panelists with questions let me note that the event hashtag is #africa summit and those following on twitter can submit questions under the hashtag. once we have had initial comments and back and forth we

will open up for your questions. so the title of the panel is the changing dynamic. africa's image and u.s. perceptions in the 21st century. what is your role of how africa is being covered? what is your view of how africa is being covered here in the united states? do you think we are getting the right story? are we stuck in images that emminate from the cold war? or are we able to understand the new africa that is emerging? >> well, good afternoon everybody and thank you for the question. look, we have got to start that africa is complex for anybody whether you are african.

the land is totally different. the reality of the country is not complex. for anybody to really be an africa specialist and comprehend all the complexities of this -- of a certain square kilometers over, you know, a billion people now, this is very difficult to do. sure, there are some challenges that the continent faces. and sometimes those challenges you can find them, you know, in different parts of the continent, which are the same. also at the same time, you know, a lot of portions of yesterday. now, the reality is there's a difference between the reality and the perception we have. now, africans themselves have also sometimes a difference between the reality and the perception they have of not only their own country, but also

neighboring countries. so, i won't blame an american or european or chinese if they don't have the right perception of what's going on in africa. reality also is all this has been changing gradually. not there yet in terms of like, you know, really getting to the details of the complexities, but, you know, the needle has been moving. and you've got -- there's a proverb in africa which says kill the lion knows how to tell its side of the story. you know, the tale would always glorify the hunter. now, if you try to transcribe it in today's reality, africans need to know how to tell their stories. let me give you an example. here we are. everybody is saying this is a great event this week in washington, d.c. all the heads of states, all the

delegations here. now, you would have to count who are those heads of state who have framed their stories before coming here. almost nobody did. i think -- you know, you can't imagine president obama going somewhere without giving an interview to that country, okay? it's all about framing the story. and we've got to actually frame the story, the narrative of the continent more and more. the good news is, and i'll just lay it down there. so, the good news is, you have more and more media houses in the country. some are represented here. i saw him of the nation, for you guys who follow africa, he was around here. my friend over there also. but, the second aspect is actually the social aspects. i'm not -- not even young.

you have the young but not so young, who are actually on the networks putting out their africa. not the africa which is p perceived from here or china or somewhere else. >> let me turn to you. you grew up in liberia, but you've been here in the united states for a long time. you covered the white house for "the new york times," one of the p preeminent positions. so you know africa intimately on the one hand and you work for a major newspaper. how do you think about african stories when they come to you? do you feel a certain pull? i should report it this way because i grew up there or i just have to get it out? how do you wrestle with that? >> i've been thinking that i'm going to probably be your worst panelist today because, in part, i feel like i have so many different identities and so many

different roles. and you started talking about -- when you started talking about the way the western media portrays africa i get defensive because i'm with the western immediate, yeah but i also have so many frustrations with the western media now. the western media portrays africa because i'm africa and i'm also american. so, i've been all over, listening to your introduction was like a case study of three different personalities for me. it's been -- it's a really -- i think when you start talking about the whole issue of western perceptions and the perceptions particularly in america of africa, it's such a complicated story. i moved from liberia to this country. we moved to knoxville, tennessee, in the 1980s. and i remember it being the first couple years, being so incredibly hard because at that time, as far as the kids in the high school i was in were concerned, africa was a country. they were constantly pissing me

off by asking me questions like whether we used to live in a tree. and i had the worst attitude possible because it was completely inconceivable to me that i knew as a liberian, everything you could possibly know about the united states and these americans didn't know anything at all about liberia. i didn't understand. and i remember seeing, you know, "out of africa" won the best picture award and i got pissed off because it was about white people and not about africans. and then to make matters worse "cry freedom" came out and it was about my hero and it wasn't really about him, it was reduced to a bit part and it turned out to be about donald woods, the white reporter, who reported it afterwards. and we've come a long way since then. you've seen almost like a cultural revolution. there's been a renaissance. you see, instead of the african literature, for instance, being solely the province of, you know, alan payton and the white

south africans or even karen blitzen, we see new african writers who are telling a distinctly african story and that gets to what amadou was saying about africans telling our own story. that's a challenge we need to take up as africans. but i think we're getting there. i also, though, think that the media and the western media, of which i'm a part, has a long way to go. you brought up the ebola story in "the times" last week. it's amazing to me that this has been going on since march. as of -- by the time we got to july, 1,000 people had died of the disease in sierra leone, new guinea and it wasn't until two americans caught the disease and it exploded to the front pages and the evening news here. that's a question -- that's something the western media has to wrestle with ourselves about how, you know, how we cover

africa and this need we have to constantly americanize every african problem and issue that is not relevant to us until we can find a western face to put on it. but i think it's also a challenge for us as africans to figure out our own way to tell our own story. [ applause ] >> akon, you're unique for many reasons, there's probably nobody better on the planet who understands image and perception and reality and how to shape image. and when you look at how africa is portrayed today and given your intimate knowledge of the continent, what do you see? your work with various artists, your own work, what are your thoughts about how we should change africa's image or how

about getting a more balanced perspective? i know you're not a news person. you're a recording artist. but what can we learn from your experience in that respect? >> well, i think ultimately, no matter what you're involved in, the system doesn't change. it's all about marketing. the thing about africa is we have a history that's untold. even though it's told, but it's been told in so many ways but it's been told from the likes of others who market themselves to become leaders in their own universe. when you look at a place like africa that has so many history, so many resources, so many, like, as the culture of it, everything out of africa has been adapted to build there, but we've never utilized what africa has to build africa. it's almost to a point where as -- because we have -- even

though i was raised in st. louis, my mother and my father and all my family are senegalese and were born and raised in senegal. we were the only generation that came to the united states. you know, my dad made sure we were all born in the states so we wouldn't have to deal with immigration issues with how he dealt with trying to get over to the states. so, surely after we were born, he sent us back to africa. and then senegal is where i was raised up until later elementary and moved into junior high, middle school and from there just stayed in the states. you know, frequently came back and forth. but i noticed the more i went back, i could never understand that after so many years spent in the u.s. and then i would go back to visit, that nothing would change. it was kind of mind-boggling that i would leave a place for five years, come back in the same corner and that same coca-cola bottle is sitting right by that sewer.

and it made me think a lot about advancement and what advancement actually means and one thing i realized as i was going forward is as afternoons, we can allow ourselves to be in a position where we're comfortable. because what happens is africa has this aura that's just so loving and it's one of those environments where you're happy because everything around you just feels good. so, you -- it's almost like when i was a child. when i was running around, you know, playing soccer barefooted, you know, living in straw huts. and i was happy. no electricity. no water. i was completely content and happy with what i was experiencing until i got on that plane and came to the u.s. and saw that they were better. it boiled down to the education of what was being installed in

the minds of youth going forward. because ultimately what happens when you have leaders who are used to being in office for like 25, 30 years, you're not going to get a change for the next 25, 30 years. because there's only one mind and one vision. so i always felt personally that democracy itself is going to be one of the key things that help africa move forward, because unless you change the line of power every so often, the mind set is going to be in the same as the person that's leading now. ultimately now when you're swapping out these leaders, a new person will come with a new vision, new attitude, new environment and new experience. and through that, new laws will be built out, more than anything, new bills will be written. but more than anything, especially in africa, the people have to focus on the youth there. i mean, as i'm moving around, i hear it a lot. yes, africa, we have to focus on the youth. we have to focus on the youth.

but anything major that's coming apart that's related to africa, there's never no programs for the youth. and africa -- 65% of africa is built and ran by the youth as we speak. the population is more youth-friendly than it is adult-friendly. and they're in a position where they see the change. they see what needs to happen. but we're constantly being pounded with the history, which keeps holding us down. and it was a funny thing that i was having a conversation with a group of friends. we was talking about how we teach our children. and a gentleman mentioned how important it was for his children to know their history. and i kind of contradicted to it. and he couldn't understand why. well, you're raising your children wrong. they should know what our people went through, this, that and the other. one thing i realize, as i was growing up in the united states, in the early '80s, everything was blamed on the white man.

if nothing happened for you or you couldn't get a job or you couldn't get an opportunity, the white man is holding us down, this, that and the other. but yet you have a continent that's free and clear, wide open for business, wide open for opportunity. and you could be treated equally. without the headache of what you think is holding you down. but yet you don't even take the time to explore what's over there, because of the fear that was installed in you. not even realizing that you can get there with this -- it's the same distance from new york to l.a., is the same distance from new york to senegal. possibly the same ticket price. and yet you still haven't been there up. don't even care. as a matter of fact, the more, i'll say, negative news that comes from the continent that's actually -- that's exposed, the more it keeps you away. so, the media actually plays a bigger role than anyone thinks

because what we put out there is what comes out to the people. ultimately the people naturally believe what they see and hear on television. so, the responsibility of anyone related to the media is so much bigger than they can ever imagine. when it comes back to marketing, when i came in as africa, no one could believe an african was a rapper or a singer or an artist, an a-list artist in the same line with whitney houstons and michael jacksons and lionel richies and so on and so forth. they're like, impossible. he's not african. and it was a strategy because i had to conceal the fact i was african up to the point where i got so ahead they couldn't stop me anyway. but that was the only way that i could actually advance. because when i first came out and put a record out the first time, i wanted to inherit my african moves. i wanted people to know i'm afric

african. i realize no radio would play me. b.e.t., which is black entertainment television, told me that i wasn't urban enough. then mtv said i'm too urban. where do i fall in the middle? how do i adjust? so, i just said, okay, well, i was born in the ghetto. i've been locked up. and i'm from st. louis, missouri. [ applause ] and it worked. >> let me just pivot to john here and play off that for a second, because, john, you have -- you spent virtually your whole career on the african continent. you spent a fair amount of time in the headlines, on "60 minutes," working with media a lot and projecting a lot of what's happening on the continent. your focus has been on conflict resolution.

and you also worked with some of the most identifiable people in the world. george clooney, ryan gosling and others. how do you balance, sort of, your work, your viral work on conflict resolution, whether it's sudan, the congo or uganda in regards to the larger message coming out from the continent? >> how heard listening to the ipod this morning and sitting next to the guy i was listening to. he's even smarter than the lyrics, which is weird, because usually somebody else is writing the lyrics, but it was definitely him. i was thinking about the origins of this u.s./africa summit. president obama went over to africa and had an idea. there are years and years of organizing by constituents in

this room, perhaps watching this on the web cast and outside all over town and all over this country and all over africa. years and years of people building constituencies in support of a deeper and broader and respectful engagement between the united states and africa. i think about constituencies. the ngos, obviously. the private sectors played a huge role in this. church and faith-based groups in general have played it, student groups who aspire to a better relationship and deeper engagement by the united states and africa. of course, as part of all that, celebrities play a huge role. we have a culture that is very, very interested in what people like akon are going to be eating for breakfast. so, if he and some of the others you mentioned become interested and engaged about what's going on in africa, it will bring more

and more people into at least contact with some of these issues. that doesn't necessarily mean they're going to learn the right things, but it gives them an opportunity -- opens doors. i think back also to what moved the needle. what changed the course of human history here in our country. it's always been popular movements. you know, it's the civil rights movement, the labor movement, the environmental movement, the women's movement, lbgt. that's just for domestic purposes. also popular movements have helped international iize liberia, angola during the blood diamond years to help bring about some change there. popular movements are really where things are rooted. that's where those folks that

have a high profile that have distinguished themselves in their artistic endeavors and have an audience and the light is coming, like it's coming at us right now with those spotlights, the light is coming at us and people like akon have taken the mirror and just shifted and said, look at this, look at this issue and listen to these people. i think that's when i've seen it most effective, when a celebrity goes into a country that they often know very little about. i'm talking about some of the americans that i've traveled with. they're learning and learning. instead of saying, well, this is what the history -- oh, let's have this person tell that story from that country. so really giving a platform to africans to tell their own story they wouldn't otherwise have in the international. they have a voice, it's just amplifying that voice. >> it's great. william, you spent six years as

african editor at "the financial times" so you got to decide what's in and what's out, right? how did you make your decisions? granted, it's a business newspaper, but still, how did you make your decisions or what stories you wanted to tell? >> well, i think because it is a business newspaper, it's -- and for an audience of policymakers and businessmen essentially, there's a need to cover a real breadth of from all classes of wealth. you can't ignore the politics up. can't ignore security issues and you certainly can't ignore business. and you certainly can't ignore the economy. so, actually in a way "the financial times" is modeled to cover different parts of the world in a fairly similar way. the problem with africa has been in the past at least that the "financial times" requires quite

a bit of scale, you want millions, billions, in terms of the money that's moving. you want market-moving stories. in the past, for example, a lot of our business coverage, perhaps, like in nigeria, for instance, was covered with oil. recently the key has been to identify trends. so every deal is huge, although you're getting some really big deals happening, you need to identify the trends in order to cover, you know, the business of -- on the continent. but i think one of the big challenges, and i think this applies to all the media, is actually how few journalists we have on this enormous continent. you've got 55 states. and a lot of the -- we're working with four bureaus, if you include cairo. and it simply isn't possible to kovrt ground.

and there's a flipside to that, too, which is in the edge of the internet, you have a huge array of different sources of information potentially on the web and sites. actually, it's very deceptive. because there are so few journalists, there's a hoe moj nye mization of news because one certainly reporter can really set the whole news agenda. because he may be one of two foreign correspondents. this is obviously changing because the african media has developed so much. but it's still an issue. the news can be set by so few journalists. so, in terms of deciding what we cover, i mean, if they're a big crisis, it's hard to ignore them, particularly when they're

in strategic states. so, that tends to soak up resources. if there aren't, there's a lot moreoscopy f scope for what we do. ft has a blend of stories. i think the west is still hard wired to cover conflict on the continent and crisis. >> so, how do we get to the -- how do we get to where the positive story itself? doesn't it come down to, what sells newspapers? >> what it boils down to is conflict is what sells. >> that's right. >> it's partly that. >> the economy is one big business. >> this is what we're trying to push back against. if that's what sells, that becomes the image. how do we get the other source? >> i slightly disagree. i think it's also an issue of which voices are loudest. if you take this country and it's fairly similar in britain

as well, the voices that are loudest on africa have tended to be the faith-based groups and ngos and the very effective and noisy character on my left, john. and because their focus has tended to be conflict resolution, then you've got a lot of focus on that in the media as well equally. i don't think you -- there's a voice yet in this country that is really effectively pushing the business story in africa that's talking about the real transformation in the continent's relations with the outside world that has taken place over the last 15 years. largely as a result -- >> one of my perceptions of this summit, the african leaders summit, is that trade and investment is going to moved to forefront of the u.s./africa

agenda. obama had that meeting in tans nia last year with ceos. he's doing it again for a day-long event tomorrow. one of three items on the agenda. wednesday with the head of state. it seems to me that the dynamic is shifting. is this something that can really get reported about and written about if -- >> up to a point, yes. but i think the trade story has been for more than a decade now the only other story there is outside of conflict in africa and, you know, let's face it. it's not just africa. the news media, we cover conflict. that's what we do. it's not news if it's like, we don't like good stories. people called me up and, why don't you just focus on the negative. i don't even hear them. it's just noise. that's -- news, that's the definition of news.

we're always going to flop to the conflict story. in a lot of ways we should because it's not just what sells but it's also oftentimes, this is what is important. usually some underlying cause there that needs to be reported. that said, the trade story, i used to work for "the wall street journal" and trade was my beat. and i always was constantly looking for -- at the journal, they basically said, you have the entire world. just go out there and write about trade stories. and so i would go to cambodia and china, you name it. i was writing about trade spats in this place and that place. and i really wanted to do an africa trade story and there was nothing coming -- i couldn't see anything. i came up with a proposal. it's too much small money pipts not the gap agreement. it's not the china wto where you're talking about billions and billions of dollars. maybe victoria's secret is going

to open up a factory in madagascar. actually went to madagascar -- i finally got my story. at the journal, even though they wanted to cover it, they didn't like -- the fact that the money was so small flipped us into writing about it as a quirky little type of off-beat story. you end up oftentimes relegating these stories. isn't this a fun, quirky little feature story about, you know, about this, that and the other. and it -- it loses the import. i think things are definitely going to be changing now because there's so much more money and you're talking, it's not just nigeria with oil. you've got it spreading around the continent and things are getting -- but i think it's going to be a long time before you see the type of robust coverage of trade and economic development in africa that you see trade in, say, china or asia just because africa does not

have that kind of money, you know, have the number of people. it's very hard for african countries to compete with the chinese on a lot of these type of products. it's viewed in a different way. if you're looking at a newspaper like the ft or "the wall street journal" or "the new york times," they're at the end of the day going to be looking for the bigger -- the bigger dollar numbers. >> right. i would like to agree with two things. first is, yes, bad news itself sells. you don't need marketing for that. and the second thing is, indeed, if you only base this on numbers, you know, you don't have a compelling story necessarily. the continent is about $1.4, $1.5 trillion gdp. that's about france's gdp. so the numbers do not

necessarily -- are not necessarily compelling. but there is an underlying story, which is worse thing. now, where i really think there is hope is that people need to realize more and more that, you know, it's not the perfect mirror up. look at the mirror and sometimes you see things there, which are not true. but sometimes you see things which are ugly. maybe it's because if you are ugly, it gives you that picture, too. at the end of the day, i do not think we can change anything as long as we africans do not frame our narrative. that's really what it would boil down to ultimately. you've got to frame the story. again, you know, i'm not happy about the fact that our head of states and others didn't frame

the story of this summit. and the second thing is, we've got to get the chance to all the people out there who are a lot of work. sometimes even better than the media itself. and last point, when you really think about is it, africans, you know, many of them look at the united states. you know, in the head of many, there's also a lot of stereotypes. drugs, awe lot of it, prostitution, a lot of it. gunshots. look, they can't comprehend it. at the end of the day, this is also impedestrianed in human nature. and it's -- you know, we've got to give a chance for this movement, which has started to grow and that is everywhere. the media has its role. citizens have their role.

but we also need to do our job. >> let me ask akon about african culture, in your work and in the media outlets that you see, do you see an increasingly accurate reflection of african culture? i'm thinking music and art and fashion and other modes of expression? >> with the human eye i do, clearly, because i'm out there and i can clearly see the advantages and the inspiration that inspires the rest of the world. but getting back to the media aspect of it, you really can't blame them. they're just the messengers. they report what they see. us as humans, we have to evaluate that information and work with it. how does it benefit us? how does it not benefit us? ultimately we as a human race would never go forward if we put business and corporate gain before the fact you're human

first. people will sell anyone out for a dollar. there's no human value anymore. that's what it boils down to. as much money as the corporations and the media, even what they report, i mean, corporations, of course, they do -- foundations try to give back, so on and so forth, but even in that game, it's more funner on how they can gain more money. >> one thing we're seeing in africa when major corporations invest there, they're creating jobs and skills. >> that's what they say. where are the jobs? >> procter & gamble created like 2,000 jobs there. >> there's almost a billion people in africa. 2,000 isn't doing nothing. >> got to start somewhere, right? but think about it. we have to start somewhere. when i can literally employ tens of thousands, i'll employ a couple hundred.

can you imagine -- i don't even blame them because as africans we shouldn't have to reach out to build our own country. there's enough money in africa itself. let me give you an example. you can check the statistics. every week there's a new millionaire coming out of africa. every six months a new billionaire. clearly there's a lot of money in africa, liquid cash. if we just bank in africa, let's not even help nobody in africa ever again. all the rich billionaire, millionaires in africa, just bank in africa. that alone would help build our own economy. you follow? we don't even go that far. >> right. >> that's what hurts me more than anything else. we're so dependent on our neighbors to help us when all we need is just each other. >> do you see that changing at

all? >> it's going to happen with the youth. >> getting better -- >> i think the youth is the only thing that can do it. i don't think this generation, the generation before us, can make that happen. it has to be the generation following. we have to be able to teach them kids moving forward on how to not allow the history to hold you down and move forward. because ultimately, if we continue to do what we're doing and follow our leaders in so many words, we'll be right back here. it's like 360, never-ending cycle. someone has to take a stand. just do what's necessary. more for the fact of you being human first. goes back to prime example, not necessarily related to africa but the scenarios don't change. the conflict in gaza. it's clear that palestine don't even -- they can't afford a military to fight back. they don't have the resources that israel have. so from the human -- like the human part of it.

you can't sit here and literally kill women and children and think it's okay because you think one rocket is going to kill or be sent out to avoid two or three people dying, you're killing thousands of people. there's no human -- like, there's no human rationale to me. as people, we have to think, us first. everything will come naturally if we just do the right thing among us naturally. you follow what i'm saying? >> fair point. let me pivot to john. you wanted to get involved in this. you wanted to get involved. >> bill, two points on this ongoing discussion. the first is, from our side of the equation, this idea of generating more development through keeping, retaining that money in africa, is a compelling one. part of the equation, perhaps, is that all of the work that is being done on the continent of africa and with its partners on

battling corruption and corruption being a two-way street that so much of the money that has come in and corrupted certain elites in african governments have been as a result of huge investments, very untransparent investments from the united states and from europe and certain asian countries. and the move now increasingly towards more transparency, more accountability for money that has been diverted away from state budgets that would go into health and education and all forms of social welfare, capital development and infrastructure. and so i think that's one piece we need to talk about. certainly on the media stuff. everybody's correct. we're going to keep -- the world is going to keep focusing.

if it bleeds, it leads. no matter where you are. if you watch the nightly news in st. louis, they're going to cover who got shot that night. and the world news will cover where the bang is blowing up the loudest. here's the point. you can cover these stories in a way that changes people's perceptions. usually when we see a nightly news version of an african conflict, they'll run straight to the one white aid worker and interview them because, well, our audience has to be able to identify with the story. whereas the truth of every crisis response in africa is that it's led and staffed and organized by africans. you think about the humanitarian assistance infrastructure of responding to all the emergencies we see. 99% of the people that are working in these crises in very different situations are africans, putting their lives on the line. when you look at the park rangers who are protecting the

wildlife from being poached. it's africans. when you look at who is on the front lines of human rights struggles and pro-democracy struggles. it's africans in the street saying, we want to see change in our country. and health care workers in west africa this week, if you can see who's really bearing the brunt because of the public health crisis there. so, i think covering a story, they're going to cover those stories but cover it in a way that values and democrat straights africans are at the core of the solution, not just the problem. >> the nightly news in nairobi, is it reported in the same way? does it lead with who was shot today or what bank was robbed? or is it different? or in dakar? >> it's different. at the end of the day, if you

leave here, live the united states and the nightly news. the anchor is reporting for an american audience, for god's sake. the identification is done by -- the american doctor victim of ebola flown back here. that's where the empathy is more than like the librarian doctor who served, you know, hundreds of lives and who ended up dying. i mean, that's just the plain reality. and everybody knows -- you know, you're also competing to have viewership. so, it's not true. that's why we've got to go about the basics. let's make sure that we have the proper journalists and let's make sure we have the infrastructure, which enables africans to tell their own story so that if you're in the united states of america and you're interested in what's going on, the story of that doctor in lie

beer, yeah you can get it. so, that's where i come out of this. >> i think that's taking too much of the onus away from what people in the western media can be doing. >> i certainly don't see -- >> i very much agree with you. we tend to do it with africa. i don't see us doing it with anywhere else. >> why is that how so? we have to ask ourselves, why is that so? >> i think the answer would probably be -- we americans, still saying we africans. >> you're moving around a lot in that chair. >> we americans still see we africans as complete -- as very

foreign and different. and somehow -- >> we don't understand african. >> and we are. >> but if you are -- if you were a historian in a hundred year's time, trying to figure out what happened since the millennium and you used the western media as your gauge, you would actually miss the story. you would think that the continent was racked by conflict. that you wouldn't realize that actually there's been this extraordinary transformation going on. and that is something very specific to the way africa is reported. because it's certainly not the case in asia. you get a much broader, better picture of what's actually happening. >> you tell a vignette in your book, the house at sugar beach, when you were working for "the wall street journal", came to washington and you were going on the trip to china up. gave your liberian passport to the congress department and the

woman came back to you and she said, i've never seen one of these. is this real? and i can only imagine how you felt. you said at the time it encouraged you to get your american citizenship and passport. but has it gotten any better? do you think we know africa at all? would that happen again today? >> yes and no. it's definitely gotten better. this was in the '90s when liberia was in the middle of a civil war. liberia right now is 50,000 times better than it was in the '90s when we are middle of a civil war with child soldiers, with so many -- the carnage was unbelievable. that said, it's still a very rare thing. i was traveling with my sister a few years ago. we were on a train, overnight train, going from england to -- we were going from paris to florence, italy. don't ask me why we took the

train. i can't remember. i had my american passport. my sister still had a liberian passport. it was the middle of the night. they stopped the train, got to the border, came into the cabin we were in and dragged her out with her liberian passport. the immigration guys were just basically examining her passport again as if it was some kind of exotic thing they had never seen before, shining the flashlight. i remember cracking up that night when he had finally came back into the compartment an hour later pissed, i mean, she was furious. but that was sort of par for the course, you know. but i think -- i think that was -- that was still around the end of the liberian civil war. i think things are very different now. and i think it's become a lot more -- i would like to believe it's become a lot more sort of normal and usual to see people in different countries moving about far more frequently. one of the reasons i became an

american citizen was that i didn't want the visa hassle anymore. having to fill out a visa to -- not a single country i could go to where i didn't spend two weeks in various embassies, like, in visa hell. that's a really horrible reason to become an american citizen. >> reasons in the reasons. good outcome. one last question before i open to the floor and that is does anybody think the african leader summit is going to change american perceptions of africa? >> nope. >> nope. >> i agree with amadou, there's been insufficient framing of the story by african political leadership coming in. i also think it's a real macker this summit is taking place. there's a real buzz about it. >> great it's happening but i don't think it will change much.

it changes because of a daily basis not because of the summit. >> inside government and outside government, does this change? >> i think marginally improves things but president clinton, president bush, president obama all investing some of their efforts of their presidency in enhancing a different type of relationship between africa and the united states. more equal, more of a partnership. it's one very small step on a load road that needs to be taken. >> akon, what do you think? >> absolutely. i agree with john. more so, i think it's a way to pretty much make up for what could be done. that's how it feels. because this is not the only place a summit like this was held for africa. six times a year. >> right. >> ghana, ethiopia, you name it, here, saudi, qatar, dubai.

but we can have a million summits. if africans themselves don't rebuild their own country, there's going to be a million more summits. >> let me open up to some questions here. i met a mandela youth -- >> speak up. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. >> please say your snam and where you're from. >> i come from the united republic of tanzania. i've been attending the obama's washington fellowship for young african leaders. i've been doing business on the enter practice newership tract and i received the grant. in so many ways, my story is a story of so many other young people in africa. not just in the struggle of trying to reshape the image of our continent but also a push

for growth and positive parity. where all the people, all the generations say, this is how it's done. we say, it can be better. we start our own businesses with new energy and focus. we're optimistic. then the pessimism that exists with generation and international community of our africa. we make 75% of the population. we're waking up to the realization of how much we can actually change the politics, the businesses and actually drive tangible change. the question i want to throw back to the panel has to do with the u.s./africa relations. and basically united states in africa has a reputation of having permanent interests and not permanent friends. so, for some of us who are attending the summit, you know,

i've been receiving warnings that what are you doing there? what are those americans trying to put in your heads? i constantly have to remind people back home that i am making friends with united states. i'm trying to be in international relations which is in the best interest of the continent but i'm not settling on my country. so, what the question is, what is the united states doing to get past this reputation? we've been talking about media. a lot of people don't buy stuff we've been discussing because they believe you pick stories, you pick angles, what's best for american and international interest. we think we have a lot of good stories. yeah, we're the first generation to access high-tech now. we don't just download akon music. by the way, i'm honored to meet you. but we also share our stories. we tell our american friends,

africa is not only jungle and diseases and wars. we have happiness and cities like nairobi and lagos which is a positive aspect. so, what i'm trying to ask you is what is america trying to do to get past this bad reputation? and even more important, to what extent is america willing to treat africa as equal? and avoid bad branding or punitive measures when africa decides to act in its best interest? thank you. >> john, let me throw that to you, from having worked in the white house and the state department. >> one thing that isn't being featured a lot in this summit but one of the things i think the united states has invested a lot in in the last few years is in crisis response and the crisis response capabilities of

african institutions. peace keeping and peace enforcement united states has invested a lot in, building up african militaries that can be the first responders to some of the worst crises. you look at some of the peace -- i mean, in every conflict in africa today, the principle negotiators, the principle peacemakers are africans. i think the united states has -- instead of trying to big foot that, as we might have during the cold war and the period thereafter, the u.s. has, i think, hopefully worked in support of african solutions for some of these conflicts. and built up the capacity of not only the african union and its peacemaking abilities but also the subregional organizations. egad in eastern africa and southern african development. so, i think that -- i think

that's a less told story that the united states -- they don't really get anything out of it. i think a lot of the trade and investment stuff the u.s. benefits greatly. they're curious and concerned about what american corporate interests might have in africa. but there's a whole other element of peacemaking, peacekeeping and humanitarian spongs, public health development, education, support, all these kinds of things that the united states is involved in as well that i think is hopefully will lay a stronger foundation for the relationship between the united states and the african continent. >> that's great. let me take some more over here. and then back there. why don't i take two.

>> hi, i'm kate thompson from deloitte. going back to the question about the africans -- africa's own journalists. i believe that story tellers shape our world. and when i look at the journalism in africa, i think of it as a supply problem and demand problem. citizens don't demand better coverage from their journalists and journalists don't have access to information from their governments. in some cases they don't have, perhaps, the professional training or skills to analyze some of the information and the data they're receiving. so the question is to the wall street journal and financial times and others is, what are we doing to help african storytellers, african journalists, african media tell their own story that you've all sort of men mentioned? what are we practically doing to help that? why doesn't the financial times hire more african journalists, for example? >> great. let me take that.

>> that's a great question. >> thank you very much. my question is -- >> can you identify yourself? >> yes. heather jeffrey, consulting firm. and the african is very rich country and should attract tourism. not a single organization in united states promotes african tourism. believe me, i went there invited by friend of mine in kenya. it's fascinating. i mean, i have never seen anything like it in euro asia or latin america. but why don't we promote tourism? and that's really what gets americans to know african and to know the culture and to all that you have to do, promote tourism and then can work on make it safe for them to come and enjoy

being in africa, enjoy the beautiful continent. >> i can tell you -- i can answer that one right there. i know a number of travel agents that would love to take you to africa. so, see me afterwards and i'll give you their names. over there, please. >> hi. yes, my name is natalie cofield, ceo of greater austin black chamber of commerce. texas is the largest exporter to africa from a brookings reports that was done with more than $5 billion worth of exports to the continent. as we're talking about reframing and recreating a narrative about what it means to do business in africa, i'd love for us to kind of really push back on some of the comments i've heard about the fact that there is a lot of coverage being done about trade, because there's not. there's a lot more coverage being done around aid to africa. and i think if we change the conversation to look at africa as a growth opportunity, as a market opportunity, as why

aren't you investing in africa versus why you should invest in africa, i think it would really do our country a service. so, with that being said, my question is, austin is obviously one of the fastest growing technology centers in the country. africa is one of the fastest growing technology continents in the world. how do we continue to keep pushing this conversation about trade and entrepreneurship on the continent, looking at it from a tech perspective in this instance? that's a great story. >> great question. was there one more? betty. >> thank you very much. my name is betty minor from kenya. i have two comments about this. i went to a meeting last week on friday. this absence of proper presentation of africa, i think, that's a lot of disservice to

americans investment. part of the conversation was a couple of business people, their perception is that africa is not open to them for business because it's been taken over by the chinese, because they don't care about human rights. the other narrative was they don't do business in africa because the europeans bribe. but that's really -- i mean, that's not true, to start. to start with. but if the american media doesn't change its perception of africa, it's only going to be to the loss of american businesses. the panel before, i think we had general electric say in five years, their orders have grown from $1 billion to $3 billion. so, some people who probably don't know, doing great business in africa, and may not be able to tell the rest, to change the perception. i think it would be interesting to see whether the american media sees itself as having a role in changing that

perception. it could be the role of african leaders. i agree. i think there's a lot to be done by the america media to actually change this perception and make sure that the american people are aware of the dynamics in the continent. having said that, i think is the african summit going to change anything? you all say no. well, actually, there was -- there's been a lot more debate, in my part of the world, a lot more conversation about this summit than about the europe/africa summit that happened in april. there are more people from my country here in washington this week than went to brussels. so, there must be something to be said about all the hype and the conversation about this. i think a lot will -- not necessarily a lot will change, but certainly the level of conversations and debates and -- a lot more about this summit than happened just four months ago. thank you. >> great. thank you for that.

william, first question to you. why doesn't the ft hire more african writers or trained african writers? >> well, first of all, it should. second of all, there is a slightly complex issue, which is quite often it is better to have a foreign correspondent from -- who is actually a foreign correspondent. say, for example, if we're covering west africa, it's not a bad idea to have, you know, an english guy or an american. just as it would be anywhere else in the world, because you have a kind of -- that outside perspective on things. so, that's one issue. but it's true that we haven't hired that many african journalists over time, although we have hired some. so, there's room for improvement on that. but, the other part of the question, i rather disagree with the premise in a way that we should be helping african media because actually it's evolving

incredibly fast. when i first became the journalist, i worked for the bbc african service, focus on africa. tens of millions of people listen to it all across africa. it was a vital daily news media. now very few people listen to it. they don't need to. there's so many african radios, tv channels. so, in a way i think the media is involving incredibly fast in africa. not always in a positive direction. some newspapers have deteriorated in quality. generally, the landscape has changed massively. i don't think, you know, outsiders have much to offer, really. it's doing it itself. >> to my sister betty, i just want to qualify why it doesn't change anything. for instance, if you take the france/africa summit, it's been happening for years. perception of france toward

africa probably today, you know, works. i mean, you can measure it by the levels of gain of onus or not, for instance. now, it's great many people are coming here, including from kenya, but there is probably some promise here. it's new. this is the first at this level summit between the u.s. as a country and africa as a continent. there's a lot of hope in that. second point, you know, i just want to say this, there will always be bad excuses for not going to africa. i'm talking about the business. and, indeed, look, if you actually take the, you know, china/africa relation, it's not new. and, of course, before today

american companies shall not go into africa saying everything goes to china. they used to say everything goes to others. there are always bad excuses. if you don't go, then you're on the losing end of this. and it is probably public service for media to have actually also -- media from this side of the world frame the story for american companies to say, well, you know what? you can do better by going to africa. so that's really what it is. >> can i just add something to that? i think one of the great ironies right now is that the great kind of frontier capitalism that built this country, that, you know, is so american, is actually -- it's the chinese who are doing it in africa. american companies really aren't getting in there, getting their hands dirty, building railways. it's the chinese who have inherited that. >> i'd like to just insert

something though on this great chinese and africa story that we consistently hear. i don't think it is necessarily all roses. i think that we get that here because we're constantly, you know, we're told the chinese are beating the americans, and they are in africa obviously, but i think that comes with a lot of damage, societal damage, and it comes with a lot of cultural damage. i have an anecdote i just want to fling out there. i spent much of last year in liberia. i was working on a book, and the chinese are -- liberia was founded by freed slaves from america. liberia should be the ultimate american story, but china is big time in liberia. there's this whole narrative that china is completely overtaken in any many ways they have the united states in liberia. but the chinese government -- these chinese companies were working on a fourth or fifth

university to be part of an adjunct of the university of liberia. they built what they billed as this beautiful campus, dormitories and all of that. the university of liberia is very overcrowded, and for the bathrooms, the chinese built -- there's this big controversy in liberia because they built these outside toilets that are basically just holes in the ground. and the liberian students refuse to use them. they just -- and there was this big deal with why did the chinese build these toilets. there aren't real commodes. it's basically, yeah, this is africa, people should be used to going to the bathroom in a hole in the ground. it was a huge controversy. for two years these dorms are sitting there empty, not being used by a ravenous population because you have this sort of cultural conflict there, and i

remember getting into a big fight with a greek friend of mine who is like this is insane. why are the liberian -- they don't have schools -- i kept trying to explain, you don't understand, they feel insulted. they spent all millions of dollars building this, why couldn't they just put in proper bathrooms? and there's a lot -- there's a lot often these disconnections between these cultures that we don't -- we don't see these sorts of stories here in the united states, but it's not -- all i would say is i was just struck -- >> sounds like a good story. >> it would be a great story. i don't write about liberia -- yeah, that's a quirky story. but it's very much a case of when we're here looking at it, it looks as if china has completely taken over, and i just think all of that comes -- it comes with a lot of -- there's a lot of prejudice right now between for instance and the chinese on both sides of the issue. there's a lot of suspicion. there's a lot of, you know --

it's not -- i just think we shouldn't whitewash it when we talk about it here. we should have -- our eyes should be open. when american companies and american organizations go to these countries and, you know, we should also be aware that it's not as if, you know, it's not as if other people don't have issues as well. >> right, right. >> i'm sorry. >> i think in any situation there's going to be a good and a bad to the situation. like i just left china, and i went into a facility where their bathrooms were a hole in the ground. so that's their culture. it wasn't that they did anything disrespectful. that's their culture. now, the liberian culture and the chinese culture are similar when it comes to history and family and stories. they're kind of similar, but the way of how they live, their diet, things of that nature is kind of different from ours. so i think a lot of times always a misunderstanding or miscommunication because we

don't communicate enough as a human race. so ultimately anywhere you go in the world, there's going to be parts of cultures that you may not be, you know, experienced with like -- me being in america and learning here, i realize just how much i need to know because when i first came to this country, i spoke fluent french, spoke fluent and came to the u.s. and learned english. but i lost my french because no one speaks nothing here but english. the reason why i still speak my native language is because we spoke it at home. but i don't see how you can be in a position where everything is catered like that's the only thing that i think that u.s. can expand on and i think be better with is educating americans to the outside world, and i think

africa has always been one of those continents where it's almost like if there was even remotely close conversation about education to africa, they shut it down. there's a lot more about africa that needs to be learned even in the schools. when you look at american history, africa's played a huge role building america, but you would never even know that. so it goes all the way back down. getting back to china itself, the only reason why they feel like china is taking over africa is because they really are. it's true. and i can say this because i'm a born american. so that makes me an american citizen. as we were traveling all -- with my akon lighting africa project, we have 14 countries we're locked into contract supplying smart homes, street lights, but it's ironic i'm an american citizen and i'm being funded by

the chinese. it's not that u.s. don't have the opportunity, don't have the respect, don't have the man power, don't have the experience to do it. i just feel personally that there's not enough interest in africa yet for u.s. to put their hands in there because ultimately they have the power to do it, walk in right now and be out of there and africa could be amazing with that partnership because i think if u.s. and africa actually really joined forces and created the united states of africa, this would actually empower and strengthen america a lot more, believe it or not. i think she might have left but she's absolutely right. not investing in africa at this point will completely disable the u.s. in the future because what africa has to offer that the chinese are taking advantage of, and you see how fast china is building, but if they actually have africa on top of what they already are building, they will become the world's new super power. so it's a question of do you get involved now or do you just wait and be very arrogant and allow that to happen and then come

back later and realize, wow, we made a mistake. it goes back to the music industry and i like to relate a lot of things with the music industry because it's almost like it reflects reality. the music industry was so powerful at one point. everyone needed a record deal to be famous. digital came on board. so it wasn't really a threat yet because it's digital. no one really understands it. how does it make money? we don't quite know yet but just give it a minute. while that's happening you have a small company called apple who is creating what could be the next music industry. they go to someone like a universal, sony, warner bros., all these guys and says, listen, we have a new format that may work for you. what do you think? well, we don't really understand that. okay. how can we license your music and sell it on our platform? you know what? you can just take it. whatever helps us sell more records, we're cool, have it. they give up the whole catalog to apple. apple creates itunes.

now everything that you buy related to music, entertainment, movies, film, you have to go to the itunes to download it and actually own access to the content that universal spends millions and billions of dollars creating so they can get 30% of what apple makes 70% of what they're making. so they literally came and took over the music business because they didn't see tomorrow. >> akon, let me just pivot for a second because we're running out of time. i want to bring it back to africa and i want to convey a twitter question we've had. this to you, amadou, what is being done to bridge the gap between for instance in the continent and those in the dais practice and can media play a role in this? >> yeah, i think actually every day, and i'm sure akon would do this, too, every day you get