Simon Allison
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simonallison.bsky.social
Simon Allison
@simonallison.bsky.social
1.8K followers 440 following 36 posts
Newspaper person. Co-founder @thecontinent.org
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simonallison.bsky.social
A tale of two front pages.
Front page of The Continent Issue 218, showing an illustration of a fractured Sudan. With the headline: Genocide Resumes in Darfur as Sudan tears apart. Front page of The Economist for the 1 November edition, headlined: Europe's Opportunity: The financial case for supporting Ukraine.
October 31, 2025 at 8:44 PM
simonallison.bsky.social
"Another war looms, one that could pit Tigrayans against each other. I fought once to defend my people; I will not fight again
in a war that will destroy what remains. That is why I left."

@thecontinent.org
The Cover of The Continent Issue 217, showing an illustration of a boat on the Red Sea, with people drowning in the water below. It is headlined: Exodus - Why We Leave Tigray. Screenshot of p16 of The Continent Issue 217, showing an illustration of a Tigrayan fighter and the flag on the background. And in the foreground a young writer on laptop. With the headline - The Exodus Out of Tigray.
October 24, 2025 at 9:19 PM
simonallison.bsky.social
Read a newspaper.

thecontinent.org/subscribe
Advertisement for The Continent newspaper, depicting two astronauts sitting on a bench. One is looking at their phone, the other is reading a newspaper. Above the illustration is text that reads 'Can't trust the internet? Read a newspaper instead.'
August 29, 2025 at 8:58 PM
simonallison.bsky.social
Front cover of The Continent Issue 210, headlined 'The Goma blues'. Image depicts a collage of scenes from a graphic story about life under occupation in Goma.
August 22, 2025 at 7:33 PM
simonallison.bsky.social
Subscribe to @thecontinent.org.
Cover of The Atlantic about the war in Sudan, headlined 'The war about nothing'. Cover of The Continent newspaper about the war in Sudan, headlined 'The war about everything in Sudan'.
August 15, 2025 at 8:26 PM
simonallison.bsky.social
I published a story in this week's edition and, for the first time in my career, wondered: will this mean I won't get a visa for the United States?

"South Africa’s ruling party has already defeated one white supremacist state. Can it stand firm against another one?"
March 29, 2025 at 6:50 AM
simonallison.bsky.social
My favourite story in this week's edition of @thecontinent.org is this rare interview with Ethiopia's most famous singer, the King of Tizita himself, Mahmoud Ahmed.

Take a listen. Even if (like me) you don't speak Amharic, this is indescribably beautiful:
youtu.be/5IAKaipKdh0?...
Page from The Continent newspaper, showing an illustration of an Ethiopian wedding scene. It's the introduction to a story about Mahmoud Ahmed, the king of Ethiopian Tizita music, who has just retired. The first page of the interview with Mahmoud Ahmed in The Continent
March 8, 2025 at 8:52 AM
simonallison.bsky.social
Welcome to the Museum of Stolen History.
Title page of The Museum of Stolen History, a new series in The Continent. "Things can be taken. Their stories must still be told". Depicts an illustrated museum display cabinet featuring the Bangwa Queen and the Golden Crown. Picture of the Golden Crown and text explaining it's Ethiopian origin More text describing the back story of the Golden Crown and how it came to be seized by British troops from the Ethiopian emperor Tewedros II (who had himself seized the crown from a church) Illustration of the Golden Crown being given to a church in 18th century Ethiopian
January 31, 2025 at 8:49 PM
simonallison.bsky.social
News websites are a terrible medium for the distribution of news. Let's make newspapers instead. (and yes, we really do need to talk about cookies)

My 2025 prediction for @niemanlab.org

www.niemanlab.org/2024/12/news...
December 12, 2024 at 8:24 AM
simonallison.bsky.social
Christmas in the holy land.

Patrick Gathara in @thecontinent.org
Cartoon depicting the three wise men on camels. Instead of looking at a star, they are looking at an explosion in the sky. One of them says, 'That's where we'll find the genocide'.
December 7, 2024 at 12:55 PM
simonallison.bsky.social
The main culprit is @mattduplessis.bsky.social. My favourite this week:
Headline from The Continent newspaper that reads: Nyusi, Be more civil, servants (or else). The story is about the president of Mozambique, who has threatened not to pay civil servants if post-election protests continue.
December 7, 2024 at 8:45 AM
simonallison.bsky.social
The front page of tomorrow's @thecontinent.org news.
December 6, 2024 at 9:53 PM
simonallison.bsky.social
Only the New York Times can spin the brutal enslavement of millions of people as a soft power win for America.
December 3, 2024 at 9:39 AM
simonallison.bsky.social
We're all on team @zekuzelalem.bsky.social tonight. Good luck! And thanks for the iconic cover stories. Issue 100 is a personal favourite.
November 28, 2024 at 7:35 PM
simonallison.bsky.social
An image of a job advert for News Editor at The Continent, a pan-African paper. To apply, send a CV, a work sample and 100 words saying why you are the right fit.
November 18, 2024 at 2:02 PM