For immediate release
June 13, 1997


NPR Hires Charlayne Hunter-Gault as Chief Correspondent in Africa


Washington, DC -- National Public Radio® announced today that it has hired award-winning journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault to replace Michael Skoler as NPR's chief correspondent in Africa. Hunter-Gault comes to NPR after a distinguished 20-year career at PBS, most recently as national correspondent for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.

Hunter-Gault, who will begin reporting for NPR on September 1st, will be based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her journalistic mandate will be as broad as the continent she will cover, charting the evolution of African nations, societies and culture on the eve of the 21st century.

"I can't begin to express how delighted we are to have a correspondent of Charlayne Hunter-Gault's intelligence and experience in our foreign correspondents corps," said NPR senior foreign editor Loren Jenkins. "That she will now be our eyes and ears in Africa, a continent she has covered for years with distinction and deep insight, is exciting."

Said Hunter-Gault, "I am delighted to be joining a news organization so committed to covering the world in general, and Africa in particular. That is where I have always been, and, with NPR, where I will stay."

Hunter-Gault has had a respected career in both print and broadcast journalism. She won a Peabody Award for excellence in broadcast journalism for her work on a NewsHour series on South African life called "Apartheid's People," as well as two Emmy Awards.

Also, she received the 1986 Journalist of the Year Award from the National Association of Black Journalists, the 1990 Sidney Hillman Award, the American Women in Radio and Television Award, and the Good Housekeeping Broadcast Personality of the Year Award.

Hunter-Gault began her journalism career as a reporter for The New Yorker, served as a local news anchor for WRC-TV in Washington, and as Harlem bureau chief for The New York Times. She authored In My Place, a memoir of her role in the civil rights movement.

National Public Radio, a membership organization of 570 public radio stations nationwide, produces and distributes the award-winning programs All Things Considered®, Talk of the Nation®, Weekend Edition® and NPR's Performance Today®.




   
   
   
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