Waihiga Mwaura
How do you get journalists to assemble at one place in the quickest time possible? Start a fire; they will all want to be the first to report the incident.
But a nobler monthly forum is beginning to attract journos of international repute and journalism students in a mentorship-networking collaboration.
Zinduka Interactive was started by Waihiga Mwaura, a sports journalist with Citizen TV after realizing a forum would be a better way to interact with his fans than on facebook only.
Isaac Gabantu later joined Waihiga as a co-host of the monthly forum.
”The first show was held in September 2011. I attended it and after the show, I approached Higgs (Waihiga). I explained that his show had a few loop holes and he needed me on board if he didn’t want it to fail. I gave him my business card, and soon after we began working together,” says Isaac Gabantu, a Daystar University student.
At Zinduka Interactive, students get to interact with media personalities – who they otherwise only see on the screen. The participants get to pick the brains of the panelists and speakers in open, interactive sessions.
”Some of the past speakers we’ve had are John Allan Namu of NTV, Johnson Mwakazi of CITIZEN TV, Larry Madowo of CNBC AFRICA and Brown Sankale of CNN. They covered various topics such as investigative journalism, passion and business,” explains Isaac.
Mark Masai of CCTV was the speaker at the ninth edition of Zinduka Interactive. The event was held at the Alliance Francaise on 4th July.
Isaac explains that Zinduka Interacive also offers free talks to media colleges every week to offer information and market themselves.
”This provides an opportunity for one-on-one conversations to show that there’s more to media than just news anchoring. So far about 12 to 14 schools are involved.”
A few campus students have got jobs through Zinduka Interactive.
”For example, there are two girls currently working for GBS. We don’t promise internships or jobs but we offer info about different opportunities.”
Julie Gichuru of CITIZEN TV will be the speaker at the next show. This will take place on August 15th at Alliance Francaise, Wangari Maathai Auditorium from 6-8pm . Charges are Ksh.200.
