"Throughout Africa, the right to publish — like political power — has to be grabbed; it cannot be exercised solely on politicians’ goodwill or the strength of a Constitution. Thus, good journalism demands more than an ability to cultivate news sources and generate content. It requires courage. In this lies one of the continent’s gravest tragedies — the growing army of talented men and women driven from their homelands for thinking critically and daring to speak out. Their absence may give politicians synthetic comfort, but in reality it leaves their nations intellectually the poorer. Hounded is both a tribute and a record of history. It’s an acknowledgement of the commitment to truth and justice in little-known corners of the continent — the cluttered desk of a lone blogger in Ethiopia, bustling newsroom in Burundi and the dimly-lit studio of a Lagos pirate radio — which has kept the flame of hope burning under the most stifling of political rules. The stories are from 16 jurisdictions, including Madagascar, Chad, Rwanda, Uganda and Togo, and cover different calendar periods." (Page 3)