That time I wrote the NYT because wtf?
In 2014,the New York Times wrote a piece entitled ‘Nairobi’s latest novelty. High end Mac and cheese served by white waiters. That nobody flagged that title is concerning but I will get to that in a minute.
Jeffrey Gettleman,he of drinking Fantas with Islamists fame is the immediate former East African bureau chief for the paper and somewhere between cutting it up with Islamists and climbing Kilimanjaro with just chocolates on him,he found time to venture into this new cafe to let the world know that Kenya had arrived because an Eastern European was waiting on Africans.
But wait,there is more. These international franchises that signify Kenya has ‘made it’ have another problem to contend with. ‘Supply chain issues. It is often difficult to meet Western consistency standards in a place where the power goes out regularly and machete-wielding mobs occasionally barricade highways, interrupting the supply of fresh beef.’
So I wrote to the NYT to ask about these machete wielding mobs. I live in Kenya and never saw stories like that in the news AND I was a food writer. I have interviewed dozens of chefs and when we are talking about things machete wielding mobs never came up. So what gives?

I got a reply from the man himself that made me laugh.

Pause. He wrote the story in October of 2014. He speaks of events of 2008. Did Kenya stand still? Of what relevance are events 6 years ago to a story in 2014?
But wait.

Ladies and gentlemen,I think this is where the title of his book is from. I love Kenya. I love Africa. I still see no problem with making things up about her because my heart was in the right place, because see,I LOVE KENYA.
While everyone is focused on the backward nature of coverage in Africa,I wonder about the editors involved.Would anyone write a piece like that about a predominantly black suburb in America? Would any editor in a mainstream publication allow it?Why don’t the same standards hold for reporting on Africa?
A new E.A bureau chief starts in September. To her I say, fact check,Mugabe did not say Kenya was corrupt and believing it says more about your bias than anything else. Make friends outside your expat circle with actual Kenyans. Try go past the stereotypes because this continent while full of flaws has many many wonderful stories. Maybe,get an African editor?
