Where do you currently work?
I currently work for myself as a freelance broadcast journalist.
What does your firm/ Organisation do?
I write scripts, record voice overs / narrations, direct field & studio technicians (camera, audio, lighting) and edit radio & television programs.
Tell us a little bit about your career history?
I started in television in 1973 at the Bulawayo Montrose studio of the then Rhodesia Broadcasting Corporation (RBC-TV). I left the country a year later, travelled the world and only returned to the profession when I settled in Australia, studied Journalism and later worked in radio and live entertainment there.
I returned home after independence to join the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), initially again at Bulawayo Montrose studio and later moved to Pockets Hill in Harare.
Leaving ZBC, I was one of the founder producers of Radio Voice of the People (VoP), subsequently relocating to South Africa where I was with 1st TV as a producer / reporter / editor and presenter, before coming to Washington DC, where I’m presently based.
Was this always your dream career or it changed somewhere along the line?
After attaining an A level Cambridge Certificate, I enrolled at the then University of Rhodesia to study medicine and changed career paths when the black students at the university were expelled for demanding equal student facilities. I went home to Bulawayo, where by chance I attended an interview and was taken on at RBC-TV.
What qualifications do you hold?
I studied Journalism at the New South Wales Institute of Technology (Sydney) and subsequently several certification courses & refresher workshops in various radio / television disciplines.
How closely does your academic education fit in with your job?
My academic qualifications are the basis of my entire working profession.
Could you have made the educational path shorter?
Not really, because in light of technological advancements, one is constantly learning new tools, systems and methods of achieving the desired results in the industry.
What are the tasks that you do regularly in your profession?
As a freelancer, I find that I’m called upon mostly to write / edit scripts, record voiceovers, produce radio / television programs or direct a field / studio television crew.
What is it that excites you the most when you are doing your job?
When a program I’ve worked on gets positive audience reviews.
What bits do you find boring in your daily tasks?
As a freelancer I have to undertake my own office / project administration. I find that somewhat frustrating, which I construe as boring on my part!
Any advice to those studying or aiming at this job or career?
You simply have to be quite dedicated because of the odd working hours, long periods away from home with weekends and public holidays being your busiest times. One has to be a Team Player because none of the tasks in the media can be completed single-handed. Work hard and not be easily demoralized because media work is public and it will always draw criticism.