Ethiopia’s Feyisa Lilesa crosses his arms above his head at the finish line of the Men’s Marathon athletics event of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. (Olivier Morin/AFP/Getty Images)
(The Kojo Nnamdi Show) — In recent years, Ethiopia has seen nationwide protests sparked by land rights issues and tension between the Oromos, its largest ethnic group, and the country’s government and ruling classes. While many in D.C.’s local Ethiopian diaspora have been following the unrest, a recent act of protest at the 2016 Rio Olympic marathon finish line brought the issue to an international stage. We talk with an Ethiopian blogger living in exile in the D.C. region and a U.S. journalist who faced challenges reporting from Ethiopia about the media landscape in the country and how censorship there affects perspectives in communities around the world, including those in Washington.
Guests
- Soliyana Shimeles founding member, Zone9 bloggers; human rights expert, Ethiopia Human Rights Project
- Fred de Sam Lazaro Correspondent, PBS NewsHour; Executive Director, Undertold Stories Project