Komla Dumor, in a very amusing fashion, brought the idea of helicopter journalism to the fore. By using people who do not live the reality of an area, you center the views and reality of another culture upon it. By using British and American experts on a show that focuses on Africa, you show what the West thinks of Africa. It is a colonial view, even if the expert's ancestors, or even parents, come from the continent. By the same token, an Ethiopian speaks of the situation in Nigeria is a continental view, but not a native one.

By centering the works of Africans native to the country covered, one can bring not just the "feel" of the area, but the reality of those who "live" the country. You are not imposing your own culture on another country. This is important whether you are discussing plague in Africa through the lens of European research,or discussing the situation in the DRC by talking to Moroccan reporters. Neither captures the truth as lived.

I teach a great deal of epidemiology, and I focus very hard to bring the writings of Arab and African scientists and doctors into consideration during a unit on these countries. They are dealing with a plague in a boots on the ground fashion, and catching what is different in environment and transmission. They are also bringing out religious opinions and cultural habits that can either enhance or slow transmission. The hardship lies in finding these accounts, as they were often ignored or openly erased by the colonial culture.