Lawyer Turned New Media Savvy Journalist

                             Linda Mbabazi at her desk

Ali Balunywa in Kigali, Rwanda

Linda Mbabazi is an unassuming lawyer who has never practiced law. She is an editor at the New Times newspaper in Rwanda. The New Times (TNT) Publications was launched in 1995, as a media outlet publishing in English. It was established just less than a year after the end of the 1994 Rwanda genocide and the return of over a million Rwanda refugees from mainly neighboring countries of Uganda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC then Zaire), Tanzania and Kenya. Many of these returnees were English speakers besides their native Kinyarwanda, a factor that could largely be attributed to the fact that TNT publishes in English. History shows that there had never been an English newspaper in Rwanda before TNT. It is the only daily newspaper in Rwanda.

Linda joined the New Times in 2005 as a freelancer. Sooner than later, she was recruited as a journalist. Today she is the leisure page editor of TNT. Everyday she wakes up at 6.00am and by 6.50 she is in office. On arrival at the office, she checks her mail for stories or story tips and also reads online news especially entertainment.

At 9.00 am she attends the daily editorial meeting where they share tips and story ideas and also carry out a post mortem of the days newspaper. The meeting lasts one hour after which she goes to her desk to type in her stories and coordinate leisure newsgathering.

By 1.00pm she submits her stories to the features editor under whom her portfolio falls. She leaves office at 6.00pm. She also contributes to the weekend editions and therefore works everyday. On whether she has no life, her answer was that she enjoyed her job!

Linda’s computer savoir-faire makes her confident in what she does. She delivers her pages in time and the content is quite interesting. If the pages can be redesigned to achieve a better standard and be able to invite more readers, she will have accomplished a big feat.

Most of the time she sits at her desk typing away day in day out. I later noticed that new media tools assist her do her in doing her work. Because of my interest in digital culture, I asked her if she could tell me more about her work in relation to new media. She consented and that is when I knew that she was a law graduate who decided to become a journalist. The interview took two days before taking place because of her busy schedule.

She explained to me that her use of the new media starts with the basics, that is, typing in stories on her laptop. She uses the spell checker, the Wikipedia and the Internet as a source of her stories and to learn the modern style of writing leisure. Sometimes she receives stories or story tips through her email.

She is a member of many social networking sites like face book, Hi5, Yahoo messenger, Meebo and YouTube. She uses these sites for networking, getting updates, interviewing sources, man on the street and research.

Unfortunately she lost her own digital camera and now uses the TNT photographers whenever she has to go out take photos. She also owns an iPhone mobile telephone, which she uses for receiving, and making personal and work related calls.

Linda was still busy when I conducted the interview, so I did not complete it. However, I sent her an email with other questions, which she answered as below.

Do you listen to radio or watch TV, if yes do they help you in your work?

 Yes, I always do, but mostly TV. I make sure I swatch to different channels, but most entertainment related channels, including MTV Base, E! Channel, Capital and other channel like Aljazeera, BBC, CNN, and CNBC for news.   

And as the radio, I prefer listening to Salus, Contact and Radio 10, for the latest news about our local celebrities. 

Does the Google search engine help you in your work?

Absolutely yes! It really does. I often use to search for facts, and writing style.

Do you text while gathering news, or do you receive text messages?

Both. Sometimes, I send text messages to my sources asking for facts, or when seeking for news. And in return, I receive replies from them, or they send me message texts when they are telling about an event that is going to take place. 

Do you receive SMS alerts for headlines or breaking news?

No…not on my phone, because its not a Blackberry type. But I instead receive Google alert headlines or breaking news. 

Is there anything else you would like to add with reference to digital culture and your work?

I guess not, because I’m sure we exploited everything yesterday. Thanks, and would love to read about my interview

 

 

 

 

The Serious Business of Reporting Business

Ali Balunywa in Kampala, Uganda

Reporting on business is a serious business at the Monitor newspaper. The Monitor is Uganda’s other second daily newspaper (www.monitor.co.ug). It is an independent daily founded by a group of journalists. Currently, it is owned by East Africa’s biggest media house, The Nation Group of Companies that publishes the biggest circulating newspaper in East Africa. It also owns radios and televisions in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.

Dorothy Nakawesi is a serious business news writer at the Monitor. She was recruited in 2002. She holds a diploma in journalism and media studies and a certificate in finance and economic reporting.

Dorothy’s typical day starts by reading the day’s newspapers looking out for news tips. She looks at what is happening around and makes phone calls to confirm interviews and press conferences. She basically follows up tips on importation, export or investment issues.

The same morning, Dorothy attends the editorial meeting to review the day’s paper. During the meeting, at times, she is assigned to cover an event. However she also generates her own ideas. 

After the meeting she either goes out to follow a story, fulfill an appointment, do an interview or starts writing her stories. She does this after briefing her editor on what angle to take on a story. After writing a story she sends it to the editor for editing or approval.

Dorothy is grateful that she started reporting in the era of the new media. For example she uses the mobile phone for communicating with her contacts, receiving assignments, reporting, consulting, texting, photography, recording, receiving mobile news alerts, timing and stress relieving background music.

She uses the computer for typing in and mailing stories. She also uses it for researching for backgrounds via Google and the Wikipedia and spell checking her writings. She is a member of several Social Networking sites like face book which she uses  to communicate with contacts sourcing story ideas.

She is also a user of Yahoo messenger, which she uses to talk to Ugandans in the Diaspora about their views about events in Uganda and abroad. She uses the MSN for a similar purpose. She is also in possession of a digital camera and a digital recorder, both of which, she uses on a daily basis to aid her illustrate or prove stories.

 

“I cannot do without New Media,” Barbara

                                Barbara Among, Senior reporter, New Vision

Ali Balunywa in Kampala, Uganda

Barbara Among is a senior reporter at the New Vision. She is a prolific writer, blogger and New Media user. She was recruited in 2008 after working at the Monitor and The East African newspapers.

On the Internet; 

Barbara said she uses it all the time for her research. She uses many search engines including Google and Yahoo. She also subscribes to Google alerts on conflict in Uganda, Kony, Museveni, and oil refinery topics among others. She also subscribes to Africa Intelligence.com; AllAfrica.com, BBC News, The UN website (On conflicts) and Al Jazeera news feeds.

She prefers Mozilla to Internet explorer and uses the Alta Vista programme to search for news.

On mobile telephony

She is full of praises for her mobile telephone and Zain, her mobile telephone operator, through whom she has mobile access. Her phone has modes for reminders, internet for receiving jokes, horoscopes, ring tones, banking rates, stock rates and other information.

On writing stories

Barbara no longer uses pens and paper. She claims she types in her stories direct even while interviewing some one. After typing in and correcting the grammar, she sends the story direct to the editor through the intranet. Before the new system was in place, reporters used to type in stories, print them out then take to the editor hard copies, which would be used for editing.

On what New Media is close to her

She claimed that every morning she ensures that her bag has her mobile telephone, a notebook, a digital camera, a digital voice recorder and laptop.

On ICT role

Barbara claims to use different ICTs as she does her work. For example she says sometimes she conducts interviews via Yahoo chat online. Thereafter she copies and pastes and feeds the interview into the system.

She also uses social network sites like face book, LinkedIn, Yahoo Messenger, Skype,Gmail, chatting and generally to meet people.  Barbara also frequently blogs via www.bamong.blogspot.com 

Last word

Barbara passionately reminds me that she cannot do without the New Media and that if everyone could be logged in all the time, the world would be an easier place to live in and the work would not be difficult to do.