I’m pleased to announce the addition of two stellar new members to the Crux family today: Our new national correspondent, Christopher White, and our new Africa correspondent, Ngala Killian Chimtom. White is based in New York, while Chimtom reports from Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon.
To call either “new” isn’t really accurate, since White has been a contributor to Crux since we became independent in April 2016, and Chimtom’s reporting has been appearing regularly for the last couple of months. However, in both cases they’re taking on new and expanded roles.
White will be working both for Crux and the DeSales Media Group in the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, where he’ll be contributing to NET TV (“New Evangelization Television”) and to the Tablet, their diocesan newspaper. DeSales is a sponsor of Crux, and, as ever, we’re deeply grateful for their support.
At Crux, White becomes our lead reporter on the national scene in the United States, unpacking the relationship between faith and public life in America. Beyond New York, he’ll be spending a fair bit of time in Washington, D.C., tracking the latest in Catholic engagement with American politics.
From a reporter’s point of view, he’s basically won the lottery, because a big part of his job is to cover the intersection (and, at times, collision) between the two most riveting public personalities in the world right now – Pope Francis and President Donald Trump.
White got his undergraduate degree from The King’s College and a master’s degree from Fordham University in New York. He’s a Robert Novak Fellowship Award Winner, and the former Director of Catholic Voices USA.
We are beyond thrilled that Chris is joining us, and look forward to watching him knock it out of the park.
Chimtom is a Cameroonian journalist with fourteen years of professional experience. He currently serves as a reporter and news anchor for Cameroon Radio Television, and contributes regularly to a number of other outlets, including IPS, Ooskanews, the Christian Science Monitor, CAJNews Africa, CNN.com, and DPA.
In 2012, Chimtom won the Wash Media Award in the radio category, and in 2013 he won the Investigative Journalism Award, again in the radio category, which is bestowed by the British Council, the U.S. Embassy to Cameroon and the Cameroon Association of Commonwealth Journalists.
He holds an undergraduate degree in communications from the University of Yaounde.
Although based in Cameroon, Chimtom’s reach extends across the entire African continent. He’s already done superb reporting for Crux on Chad, the Central African Republic, Congo, and other parts of Africa, and seems to have a near-infallible instinct for when interesting Catholic news is bubbling someplace.
Neglect of Africa in the Western media is, alas, the stuff of legend, and we’ve been as guilty of it as anyone. With Chimtom on board, we’ve taken a huge step towards plugging that hole.
Personally, I’ll add that when Crux set out on its own, by dint of circumstance I was compelled to take on a number of administrative responsibilities I’d never sought or wanted, including managing personnel. Going in, I assumed I’d experience that as a necessary headache, not a delight – the price I had to pay, in other words, to keep doing my own journalistic thing.
Given the chance to work with such talented and passionate people as White and Chimtom, however, as well as the rest of our team, it turns out that my curmudgeonly, anti-social instincts have crumbled, and our exchanges usually turn out to be just about the best part of my day. I know you’ll have the same experience reading them (and watching and hearing them, as we expand our multi-media content) as I’ve had getting to know them.
Welcome aboard, Chris and Killian, and here’s to new horizons!
