Mabi's World: May 2019

Thursday 16 May 2019

Back in the game: The next level in the life of a media personality! 2019 productions!

By Mabi Azefor Fominyen

In what I prefer to describe as getting back in to the game- the next step in the life of a media personality, it has been yet another fascinating experience for me over the last couple of months , as I returned to radio. I began producing and presenting programmes and news on West Africa Democracy Radio !

Hence, dusting off the years when I had moved away from everyday journalistic work, and from the daily routine of programme planning, actual production and presentation of radio programmes and newscasts!

Luckily I had managed to keep the professional reflexes over the years and so it was easy to catch up really fast and swing back in to action once it was time.

Of course so much has happened as well as changed over these years!

For instance, this time around I am in West Africa. Back when I started journalism practice, I used to work in my home country Cameroon situated in West-Central Africa, where I spent close to a decade doing journalistic work and radio and Television (CRTV-Cameroon's National broadcaster).
Far from what obtained back then, radio production equipment have evolved over these years. New and digital recorders are in plenty. Editing soft-wares have gradually replaced the old editing machines and methods that producers and journalists used several years back. Mobile Phone lines have made it even easier to reach out to resource persons in other parts of the world to get their perspectives and add value to specific topics and issues being handled on programmes. The use of the world wide web to gather information and build content for different productions has been a plus. The availability and the use of social media platforms have also made it easier to share programmes online and reach out to a wider audience beyond the scope and the broadcast zone of radio stations.

In a nutshell, it has gotten better over time !

Perhaps my quest to remain professional, and religiously respect the rules and ethics of the journalism profession is what I have held unto, in spite of the changing times . Maintaining my values and work ethics especially in an era now characterised by fake news , half- baked information, mis-information and rumour peddling , continue to matter. Team spirit is key as well.