Mark Doyle (journalist)
Encyclopedia
Mark Doyle is a world affairs correspondent for BBC News
. A British
citizen, he is known in particular for his articles on topics related to Africa
.
In 1980, Doyle volunteered as a student teacher at the British-Senegalese Institute in Dakar
, Senegal
. He later worked with human rights group Amnesty International
and West Africa
, a London
-based magazine, before joining the BBC as a producer for the programme Focus on Africa. He continued reporting out of several African countries, becoming the East Africa
correspondent from 1993 to 1994. He is known for his reporting done after he arrived in Kigali
at the beginning of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide
. Doyle was one of the few correspondents to slip into Kigali before the airport was closed and was the only journalist to report continuously throughout the genocide. His other work includes co-editor of coverage on the 1996 United States presidential election
and training of Eastern Europe
an journalists in Moldova
. He has been correspondent for BBC's domestic service as well as BBC World Service
radio and TV and was appointed BBC's West Africa
correspondent in 1997.
In 2004, Doyle received a United Nations Correspondents Association
/ UN Foundation
UNCA Excellence in Journalism Award in the category "Reporting on Humanitarian and Developmental Affairs", with his producer Dan McMillan. The award was given for coverage of post-war
Liberia
under the UN peacekeeping mission
. As of 2007, Doyle was writing an account of his experiences in Africa entitled Under the Same Sky: Good Guys and Bad Guys in the Failed States of Africa.
Doyle has stated that he is uncomfortable being described as an "Africa expert", noting in 1998,
BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
. A British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
citizen, he is known in particular for his articles on topics related to Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
.
In 1980, Doyle volunteered as a student teacher at the British-Senegalese Institute in Dakar
Dakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...
, Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
. He later worked with human rights group Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
and West Africa
West Africa (magazine)
West Africa was a weekly news magazine which closed in 2005. For 80 years it was considered a major source of information about the region. It began as a source of news about events and issues in the British colonies of West Africa as well as a link between the colonial power and its administrators...
, a London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based magazine, before joining the BBC as a producer for the programme Focus on Africa. He continued reporting out of several African countries, becoming the East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
correspondent from 1993 to 1994. He is known for his reporting done after he arrived in Kigali
Kigali
Kigali, population 965,398 , is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is situated near the geographic centre of the nation, and has been the economic, cultural, and transport hub of Rwanda since it became capital at independence in 1962. The main residence and offices of the President of...
at the beginning of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
. Doyle was one of the few correspondents to slip into Kigali before the airport was closed and was the only journalist to report continuously throughout the genocide. His other work includes co-editor of coverage on the 1996 United States presidential election
United States presidential election, 1996
The United States presidential election of 1996 was a contest between the Democratic national ticket of President Bill Clinton of Arkansas and Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee and the Republican national ticket of former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas for President and former Housing Secretary Jack...
and training of Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an journalists in Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
. He has been correspondent for BBC's domestic service as well as BBC World Service
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...
radio and TV and was appointed BBC's West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
correspondent in 1997.
In 2004, Doyle received a United Nations Correspondents Association
United Nations Correspondents Association
The United Nations Correspondents Association was founded in New York City in 1947. It was the successor organisation to the League of Nations Journalists’ Association. It has 180 members from approximately 50 nations. It is well-known for presenting the annual UNCA Excellence in Journalism...
/ UN Foundation
United Nations Foundation
The United Nations Foundation started up in 1998 with a $1 billion grant from Ted Turner in order to support the United Nations in executing its programs worldwide. The creation of the Foundation was intended to encourage other donors to also support the UN in its activities...
UNCA Excellence in Journalism Award in the category "Reporting on Humanitarian and Developmental Affairs", with his producer Dan McMillan. The award was given for coverage of post-war
Second Liberian Civil War
The Second Liberian Civil War began in 1999 when a rebel group backed by the government of neighbouring Guinea, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy , emerged in northern Liberia. In early 2003, a second rebel group, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia, emerged in the south, and...
Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
under the UN peacekeeping mission
United Nations Mission in Liberia
The United Nations Mission in Liberia is a peace-keeping force established in September 2003 to monitor a ceasefire agreement in Liberia following the resignation of President Charles Taylor and the conclusion of the Second Liberian Civil War....
. As of 2007, Doyle was writing an account of his experiences in Africa entitled Under the Same Sky: Good Guys and Bad Guys in the Failed States of Africa.
Doyle has stated that he is uncomfortable being described as an "Africa expert", noting in 1998,
The little I have learnt about this place makes me realise that I am very ignorant about it. It's a vast continent with huge differences between even neighbouring countries. Like anywhere, it's full of ordinary people just getting on with their personal, complicated lives. Anyone who claims to be an 'expert' on Africa - as if it were a homogeneous region where simple rules apply - is either arrogant or just plain silly.
External links
- Transcript of remarks by Mark Doyle in Panel 3: International media coverage of the Genocide of the symposium Media and the Rwandan Genocide held at Carleton UniversityCarleton UniversityCarleton University is a comprehensive university located in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The enabling legislation is The Carleton University Act, 1952, S.O. 1952. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines. Carleton has...
, 13 March 2004 - "Too little, too late, wrong place" by Mark Doyle, BBC News, 6 April 2004
- "Rewriting Rwanda" by Doyle, review of Furious Blacks, Lying Whites: Rwanda 1990–1994 by Pierre Péan, Foreign PolicyForeign PolicyForeign Policy is a bimonthly American magazine founded in 1970 by Samuel P. Huntington and Warren Demian Manshel.Originally, the magazine was a quarterly...
, May/June 2006