Charlayne Hunter-Gault

bureau chief, CNN International, South Africa

Charlayne Hunter-Gault has staked her claim as one of the leading journalists in the US, having won many of the top honors in her field for excellence in investigative reporting. In 1961, Hunter-Gault was one of two black students who first broke the color barrier in higher education in Georgia. While braving the protests of white students during that tumultuous time in American history, she also underwent an important learning experience by observing the styles and techniques of reporters who chronicled the event. Hunter-Gault has built a reputation as a keen investigator of social injustice, especially among African-Americans. She became known to millions of television viewers as the national correspondent on PBS-TV's MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour and has also written landmark articles on subjects ranging from the ravages of heroin addiction to the evils of apartheid in South Africa.