I went to a panel discussion last night with a group of people who work in African media. Having worked as a reporter there, I know there are a lot of challenges - low quality journalism schools lead to poor training of journalists, HIV aflicts people working in the newsroom, and there are psychological impacts of covering stories like HIV/AIDS and regional conflicts.

Then the journalists started talking about things like lack of money, lack of resources, and the struggles to get their editors to cover stories they think are important. Where have I heard those things before? In the Tampa Tribune newsroom, and from almost every other American journalist I know! It was ironic, but a little refreshing to know that even though we are on different continents, and working in vastly different conditions, journalists share a common bond - we like to complain.

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