Patronising Reporting or the Unvarnished Truth?

Kim McLarin at The Root writes:

The New York Times ran a story on its front page about the king of Swaziland, Mswati III, who leads a life of ostentatious luxury while the people of his small and proud nation struggle with poverty, malnourishment and HIV...In this political season of outrage, why get excited about a front-page story in the paper of record mocking the greedy king of some place in Africa? Because the story highlights how stereotypes and prejudices render real people in caricature, making it almost impossible to seriously assess their problems or devise real solutions to them; this is Africa's special affliction, and something very familiar to those in the Diaspora...[continue reading]