Tulsa World

A brave new friend from afar

by: JOHN STANCAVAGE World Staff Writer
7/29/2007 12:50 AM

Being an editor at the Tulsa World can be stressful, but about the worst things that can happen to me during the day are irate phone calls from readers or a dressing-down from my boss.

That pales in comparison with worrying about being thrown in jail, or worse, for doing your job.

Yet, that's exactly what faces Boubacar Sankare each week as he edits and publishes 26 Mars, an independent newspaper in the west African country of Mali.

I got to spend two weeks with Boubacar this month as he visited our newspaper as part of a professional development program offered by the U.S. State Department and Oklahoma State University.

Boubacar joined the Business section, learning how we cover various beats, particularly agriculture, and how we produce the paper on a daily deadline.

At first, he was overwhelmed by the size and scope of the Tulsa World. We operate from a block-long headquarters, employ 600 people and print hundreds of thousands of copies.

"You mean the man who publishes the Tulsa World owns all of this?" he asked in amazement during a tour of the building.

"America!" he answered, when told yes. It was the first of many times he would put his hand to his forehead and make that exclamation.

He marveled at the size of our houses, the amount of food offered at restaurants and the incredible variety of items available at Wal-Mart.

Overall, what we consider to be modest means here must have looked to him like the lifestyles of the rich and famous.

In contrast to what he encountered at the Tulsa World, Boubacar has a staff of 10 in Bamako, the capital of Mali.

If his small office needs air conditioning, he pulls a window unit out of his house and carries it to work.

When he needs to use the Internet, he takes a long walk to a cafe.

And, since he has only one ancient computer, his reporters write longhand on legal pads. A clerk inputs the text, which is stored on floppy disks.

He prints 9,000 copies, once a week.

Sometimes the children who sell 26 Mars in the streets pocket a couple of pennies to let someone "borrow" the paper, rather than collect the full 10 cents, of which they are supposed to be paid 10 percent.

And, then there's the threat of jail.

Boubacar -- a father of six -- has spent weeks behind bars because the government didn't like something he'd published.

Yet, Boubacar impressed all of us with his commitment to journalism and his zeal to uncover government corruption.

Our visitor had an unusual journey to the newspaper business.

He traveled to Cuba to learn a trade, only to find the course he was going to study was unavailable. He chose journalism as an alternate.

After he returned to Mali, he went to work for the country's private newspaper.

Mali long was a French colony, and only broke away in 1960. As Boubacar tells it, the initial leader soon was overthrown by the military. That dictator was himself removed from office in a bloody revolution in 1991.

The first person elected president in the free elections turned out to be the publisher of the newspaper Boubacar worked for.

"People would say to me, 'You only publish what he wants you to,' " Boubacar explained. "So, I decided to leave and start my own newspaper."

Simply, Boubacar wanted to be sure there was an independent voice in Mali. And, he wanted its citizens to remain aware of their history.

"People are starting to forget about the revolution," he said. "A lot of people died. I don't want anyone to forget."

The name Boubacar chose for his newspaper is one of his strategies. March 26, 1991 -- or 26 Mars -- was the day of the uprising.

For a crusader for justice and democracy, Boubacar is soft-spoken, polite and humble.

His knowledge of history and world affairs was impressive, though, as were his observations.

"Countries that have only two sides often have violent wars," he said. "In Mali, we have 28 tribes now. Things are more stable."

Boubacar speaks French and publishes his newspaper in that language. But he also can converse in English, Spanish and four Malian tribal dialects.

I worked with him on a story about his experience here that will be published soon in the Tulsa World's Opinion pages. I helped him with spelling and sentence construction, and made some content suggestions, but it was obvious he is a talented writer.

"What you've composed is very, very good," I told him. "It goes beyond a feature story -- it's poetic."

His eyes welled up with tears.

We all grew close to our new friend. Soon, Tulsa World employees were collecting items to send back to Mali.

In a few weeks, he'll get six computers (five desktop computers from HelpingTulsa and one laptop from PC Power), arranged by Action Line editor Phil Mulkins, projects editor Ziva Branstetter and the Tulsa Computer Society.

My staff contributed a backpack, CD player, portable speakers and some classic American music, including The Beatles, Miles Davis and a few locals such as Garth Brooks and Don White.

It turns out that Boubacar likes country music. In fact, he says Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton and Don Williams rule the airwaves in Mali.

As he sat on the patio at Branstetter's house one evening for a barbecue dinner, he looked at her boys splashing in the nearby swimming pool.

"Do they realize how good they have it in America?" he asked.

Thanks to your visit, Boubacar, we all do.

Associate Images:

Boubacar Sankare, who publishes a weekly newspaper in Mali, visits the Brookside farmers' market at 41st Street and Peoria Avenue, during his visit to Tulsa.