Coming face to face with governance issues pushes Ugandan journalists to join politics to push for change. Sarah Biryomumasisho interviews journalists who left the fourth estate for the legislature on their motivations
Three years ago, three university students were at the cusp of their journalism careers, looking forward to starting their journeys in newsrooms in Zimbabwe. However, they met with unforeseen roadblocks. Nicole Kurebwasweka couldn’t get placement for the industrial attachment unit of her journalism course at the University of Zimbabwe. The production department of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation turned her down, saying they…
Janet Otieno was editing the final page of a magazine for the Citizen, a Tanzanian newspaper, when she received a call from human resources. It was 5pm in April 2020, about a month after the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Tanzania. Janet, the acting managing editor and features editor at Mwananchi Communications in Tanzania, stopped mid-sentence…
My story started late at night when I received a late night call from my superior which I was tempted to ignore as I was so sleepy thought it was my wake up alarm. Little did I know that it was a wakeup call for me. He asked me to try and apply for the…
To think I almost missed this training! I heard about AWiM’s RCCE programme through a forwarded WhatsApp message in one of the groups I am in. The lady who forwarded it wrote: “guys jaribuni” translated as “guys try your luck.” I applied for the training immediately, then I also forwarded the link to a friend to try her luck. I am on a maternity leave, and both electric and internet services at my place had been interrupted for almost a week….
Safety to me used to be just about physical safety, however that perspective has been broadened via the #RCCE2020 Training of which I am a participant. During my internship period, I faced one of what I can now say were threats but at the time, I did not understand what was happening around me, and I thought that has to happen in every working…
In this episode with Emmy-nominated journalist, Ruona J. Meyer, we talk investigative journalism, how to pitch yourself and your stories, and making use of the platforms available to you. Her undercover investigation ‘Sweet, Sweet Codeine’ highlighted the plight of young Nigerians addicted to codeine syrup. Less that 24 hours of broadcasting Sweet, Sweet Codeine, the Nigerian government banned the import and manufacture of codeine-based syrup. In 2019, Ruona became the first Nigerian journalist to be…
Can you share with us a bit about your journey? I’m a writer and journalist based in Nairobi and with eight years of newsroom experience. My journalism career began in 2010 when I joined The East African newspaper, where I reported on politics, security, business, culture and the arts. In 2014, I joined the Mail…
Can you share with us a bit about your journey? I am a filmmaker from The Central African Republic and the CEO of my company named Illustro Productions. After I graduated from university in Paris, I went back to my country and realized that many things had to be done within the audio-visual sector. Alongside a…
Finally, after centuries in journalism schools, conferences and seminars, the inverted pyramid style of news writing is on its last legs. Dying out, the ghosts of this method can often be seen in traditional newspaper writing and radio bulletins. Don’t take my word for it; there’s a whole raft of academic papers and features on…
There are so many social media platforms today, you would be forgiven if you thought all that you can possibly do there is to tell your immediate circle of influence what you are doing, and how. But they can do more. Social media platforms not only put the world at your fingertips, they can help…
Planning #AWIM18 conference outside my 9-5 life was not so easy. The fact that I was outside the country made it more difficult than I expected. Fortunately, I had good people and organisations around me. Gotcha Communications managed the event while Butterfly Tourism handled the travel and accommodation arrangements. My network of friends and AWIM…
