j. Siguru Wahutu | Nieman Journalism Lab

Articles by j. Siguru Wahutu

james Wahutu is a fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard and will be an assistant professor at NYU in 2019.

Media owners will protect the powerful

“To be clear, many within these organizations have already shown a willingness to hold back in favor of access to political elites — so these actions by owners and CEOs will be more of an alignment of goals than a top-down push.”

The year journalism in Africa embraces its Africanness

“It is frustrating that in 2023, we’re still trying to figure out what African journalism is.”

American journalism reckons with its colonialist tendencies

“American journalism operates in the U.S. similar to how settler newspapers in British East Africa and British West Africa did.”

A prayer for a humbler media

“It’s time to acknowledge that the enduring belief of American media’s exceptionalism is toxic, and if it continues, it will take down democracy with it.”

Journalists still wrongly think the U.S. is different

“Political journalism needs to wean itself from right-wing agitators and call this period what it is: an erosion of democracy and attempts to radicalize large chunks of the electorate.”

Western journalists, learn from your African peers

“This is not to suggest that media organizations in these countries have cracked the code. Instead, it’s about recognizing that there is useful knowledge about how to work under hostile regimes in African media markets.”

Think 2018 was bad? Wait until you see 2019

“I think the end of 2018 is the top of the rollercoaster track. The descent, which we are not ready for, is going to involve a lot of screaming as we hurtle towards Brexit in 2019 and the 2020 U.S. elections.”