From Spokane to South Africa

By: Anna Crane Pia Hansen's job as features editor for The Spokesman-Review has taken her much farther from Spokane, Wash., than one might expect: all the way to South Africa. And through her blog "Journey to Africa" (and then in print in early October), she took many of her readers with her.

For almost five weeks beginning on Sept. 9, Hansen worked at The Public Eye, a free weekly newspaper based in Maseru, Lesotho, a South African country. A self- described volunteer, writing coach, editor, and English teacher, Hansen spent her days divided between working for the Public Eye and maintaining her blog on the Spokesman-Review's site. She also worked on story ideas to be published in the paper upon her return.

Like her African homestay, blogging was a new world for Hansen. Topics ranged from the lighthearted ("My first marriage proposal") to the morally distraught ("You can't go to Africa and not talk about AIDS"). Since she only spent a little more than a month in Lesotho, and half of her day was spent working at the Public Eye, Hansen knew her online reporting might be limited. "I decided to instead tell a bunch of stories, much like you would use a travel diary," she reflects.

Some staples of Western journalism ? government access laws, a literate audience, and working Internet ? are far from ordinary in Lesotho. In her entry titled "What Makes a Good Story in Lesotho?" Hansen recounts an ethical debate with fellow reporter (and roommate) Mathapeli Ramonotsi about publishing a picture of a young girl disfigured by facial cancer. "It will give my story punch," Mathapeli said. 'It will add impact. I hope it will make the business community come forward with donations for the girl.'"

Hansen was terrified, repulsed, and fascinated by the photo: "In some ways, as much as I personally don't like it, stories and photos like this are examples of Lesotho civic journalism: This is what the world looks like in Lesotho. There is a brutal undertow in this society of neglect, poverty, and violence, especially against women and children ? and if I'm here advocating the Public Eye tells the truth, warts and all, then these stories belong in the paper too."

She adds that in Lesotho there are no government access laws, so reporters rely on officials' good will to access documents and reports: "The truth is that the government is a major advertiser; there is no nationwide newspaper, and no daily. So one can only rock the boat so much and stay in business at the same time."

Statements like these, however, were not a part of Hansen's blog, mainly because many of her co-workers at the Public Eye read it, and speaking of the poverty that surrounded her made for an uncomfortable newsroom. After writing once about the lack of hot water and the poor conditions of her homestay, Hansen noticed that her host Mathapeli was being ridiculed by other reporters. "I decided I would have to find other ways in which I could talk about the poverty here than by using the people I'm staying with as examples," she says.

One of those ways was posting photographs she took during her stay. They helped to infuse her blog with a visual dose of reality.

Spokesman-Review Editor Steve Smith says public reaction to Hansen's online reporting has been overwhelmingly positive: "It's been an extraordinary experience for her, and it's been an extraordinary experience for our readers. We weren't sure if anyone would care, and it turns out they really do."

Her first print story, "A Journey to Africa," ran in the Spokesman-Review on Oct.1. It recounted her attendance at a celebration of the abolishment of apartheid. She was among the few white faces in the crowd.