Top TV journalist to speak at Rice Feb. 29

Top TV journalist to speak at Rice Feb. 29
Charlayne Hunter-Gault brings attention to Africa

BY JESSICA STARK
Rice News Staff

Premier television journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault will present a lecture at Rice University at 8 p.m. Feb. 29 in James A. Baker III Hall. Hunter-Gault will sign books after her lecture, which is free and open to the public.

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT

The Emmy Award-winning Hunter-Gault is known for challenging convention on national and international issues. As CNN’s former Johannesburg bureau chief and correspondent, Gault introduced viewers to the people of the diverse continent of Africa, a place she once called ”one of the greatest challenges that we in the media face.”

Hunter-Gault is the author of “New News Out of Africa” and “In My Place,” a memoir of her role in the civil rights movement as the first black woman admitted to the University of Georgia.

“I hope that students will take the opportunity to talk with an African-American who has been described by many as a trailblazer in journalism,” said Elias Bongmba, professor of religious studies. “As Rice’s investment in Africa continues to grow, we think that it is wonderful to have a perspective about the developments in Africa from one of America’s leading reporters.”

Rice’s outreach in Africa includes the Beyond Traditional Borders research program, the student-led Humanitarian Medical Team and the study of the continent’s history, religion, archeology and influence on religions in the Americas.

Hunter-Gault spent 20 years at PBS as national correspondent for “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” and as an anchor for the award-winning newsmagazine on human rights, “Rights and Wrongs.”

She began her career as the first African-American reporter for The New Yorker, and she went on to serve as the Harlem bureau chief for the New York Times.

She has received numerous honors for her “people-centered” journalism, including two Emmy Awards and two Peabody Awards.

The lecture is sponsored by the Office of the President, Beyond Traditional Borders, Alumni Affairs, the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, the Office of the Associate Provost and the Center on Race, Religion and Urban Life.