Tomm Kristiansen (1950 – 2022) died early today, the family informs news. He was known to many as the “Voice from Africa”, the calm southern voice that spoke of hope on a continent often associated with disaster. He was news’s Africa correspondent for two periods. First in Harare in Zimbabwe from 1990 to 1994, then in Cape Town in South Africa from 2002 to 2006. – You are gripped by that continent. When you get there, you see everything you would like to see at home: You see the openness, the friendliness, the generosity, the togetherness and the community. You miss all this as soon as you have left the continent, he told about the relationship with Africa in the Lørdagsrevyen in 2013. But Tomm Kristiansen was not just an Africa correspondent. Among other things, he was head of information at Storebrand from 1987 to 1990, foreign affairs editor at news from 2001 to 2002, and communications adviser to South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir Mayardit from 2006 to 2008. More to tell A long career was partially ended from 2019 to 2021 with the podcast series Tomm’s African stories, which went through the highlights from the many reports. But Kristiansen was also active right to the end. Two weeks ago, he published the 200-page book Africa, which was the 17th in a row. Just a few days earlier, he talked about desert blues and Mandela songs in BluesAsylet on news P2. – What is incredibly sad is that Tomm was not finished. He had more to tell and more he should have said. We won’t get that now. But what we have is all he has given of stories and understanding over the years. The fact that he published a book just before he died speaks volumes for his productivity and desire to tell stories, says foreign affairs editor at news and former colleague Sigurd Falkenberg Mikkelsen. Tomm Kristiansen in 2018. Photo: Hege Bakken Riise / news A message of hope and reunification Two of the most important issues Kristiansen worked on were the end of apartheid in South Africa from 1990 to 1994, and the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. – I think Tomm’s message was that Africa as a continent was a rich place. It was a place of learning, a place we could learn something from, and it was a place he belonged in. Despite the brutality of all the conflicts he covered, he also brought out the peculiar ability in several African countries to bring about a reunion afterwards, says Sigurd Falkenberg Mikkelsen. Kristiansen himself told Bistandsaktuelt in 2019 that a lot was in the perspective. That even “non-stories” are only good stories about solutions. – Not so many years ago, Ethiopia was hit by a severe drought, and three people died. For many, it is nothing to write home about. But for those who know that thousands of people died in the last drought, one has to wonder; why did so few die this time? In it lies a fantastic story about how a country has managed to prepare itself, so that almost no lives were lost. Tomm Kristiansen has been Africa correspondent for news for many years. He has met people in the city and in the bush and has been an eyewitness to several of Africa’s most important moments. In this podcast series, he talks personally about how he remembers the people and events that have shaped our times.
ttn-69
Longtime Africa correspondent Tomm Kristiansen has died – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
