FRESH STARTS, FRESH CONTENT AND A FRAUGHT ELECTION

The Deep Dive 31st Edition.

Hi there!

This week's newsletter is dedicated to new beginnings and new content on our end, and a look forward to a pivotal Kenyan election. Let me begin with some great news: Award winning journalist Raquel Muigai, previously with local television station Citizen TV has joined Africa Uncensored as a senior reporter. Raquel has a wealth of experience in field reporting on various topics, with a strength in health and gender reporting. We're excited to have Raquel as part of the Africa Uncensored family, and she's already hit the ground running (although her first day was a slow one!) Read on for her reflections on joining Africa Uncensored.

We've also got a slew of new offerings for you to watch and engage with to prepare you for Kenya's upcoming election. Our in-depth documentary series "KURA" (Swahili for a vote or ballot) launched last week, with Cynthia Gichiri's rendering of one of Kenya's most famous songs of any political season, "Unbwogable" by Joseph "Gidi" Ogidi and Julius "Maji" Owino. The documentary also analyses the centrality of music for political messaging; so if you follow Kenyan politics you will see a lot of familiar faces in the documentary. Check it out here.

Finally, we also launched our interview program series, "The Big Picture". At Africa Uncensored, we're not afraid to draw back from everyday reporting and find people to talk to us about the underpinnings of our politics, culture and society. Our first episode on Music and politics borrowed from the themes of the "Unbwogable" episode of Kura for a really insightful conversation on the same. Look out for new episodes every week!

PRODUCING KURA UNBWOGABLE BY CYNTHIA GICHIRI

As a journalist who loves music and history, I enjoyed producing Unbwogable, the documentary, is part of our KURA Series that focuses on Kenya’s election. It was a challenging and amazing experience mainly because of the intrigues involved in securing interviews with the artistes who have become extremely busy due to their political engagements.

It was interesting to hear and put together the stories of each composer and the different motivations behind some of the famous songs that have graced the Kenya’s election campaigns over the years, such as the song Unbwogable itself, NASA Tibim and Tano Tena among others.

However, what glitters is not gold! Through their musical journey, you will also understand the joys and frustrations that befall every artiste who has dedicated their time and effort into creating these memorable hits and you will probably question the general attitude of our politicians toward the music industry.

AWARD WINNING CITIZEN TV JOURNALIST RAQUEL MUIGAI JOINS AFRICA UNCENSORED

There is always the beginning of something. A first time shot in a relationship, a job or maybe even driving. You surely have no idea how it is going to pan out, so you just do it and hope things fall into place.

Well, I am talking about my first day at Africa Uncensored. It is July 2022, but that first day took me back to 2007, when I was shifting from a day school to a boarding school. I felt like the “new kid”. At least this time, there was no “new uniform” that made me stick out. Somehow, I still did, as mine was the only new face here. There was little to do on that first day. Ironically, the day ended faster than I thought, because time seems to slow down when you are sluggish or have little to no tasks to keep you busy. However, that for me was a sign that I was clearly comfortable and excited about my new space, my new newsroom.

I can write so much about this first day and definitely drop in some embarrassing moments, but I intend to keep my crown high, for as long as I can, I believe.

There is a lot to look forward to, being at Africa Uncensored. It is different from all the newsrooms I have worked in before. Different in how they operate, in their structures and definitely in what they believe in and work towards. Every company has their own goals, I don’t dispute, but “investigate, expose and empower,” works just right for me at this point and time in my career.

It has been almost 5 years in the game and I can’t be any proud of the trajectory my career is taking, Just recently I finally could add “award winning journalist” title to my bio. It makes me happy.

I do not know how these coming days, weeks or months will turn out to be, but I am sure I will be making the best of it. In the words of one of my very first editors, “Work on every story as if it is your last, remembering, you will never change what you tolerate.” In other words, I am striving to make an impact with every story I tell.”

NYAKERARIO OMARI ON PRODUCING GREEN TO GREY

Working on this production has enabled me to look at urbanization from a people-centred approach. If Nairobi as a city is not designed to accommodate and ultimately improve the living conditions of its dwellers, then we're failing. Which we are!

True to these observations, 'Green to Grey' gave me a chance to look at the impact that urbanization has had on the environment as well as looking at urbanization from a different angle. While it might seem as though we have time to redeem ourselves, the truth is we're out of time. Jedidah Wanyeki, an environmentalist who is featured in this production believes that, "it is each one's responsibility to take care of our environment."

Join Our Newsroom Instagram Live this Wednesday!

Join us this Wednesday for our Instagram Live! We will be unpacking the Extra Pound Piece by Kabugi Mbae which looks into Fast Food Vs Obesity in Kenya. The piece features three Kenyan women who open up about their struggle with obesity in an alluring food environment that drove them to make unhealthy dietary and lifestyle choices, sometimes against their wish. While one of them has managed to shed her excess weight, the other two are still swimming against the tide in a culture that promotes sedentary lifestyles and consumption of fatty, sweet and salty food.

Cheers.

Editorial Director: John-Allan Namu

Assignment Editor: Sam Munia

Contributors: John Allan Namu, Sam Munia, Raquel Muigai, Cynthia Gichiri and Nyakerario Omari.

Social Media Manager: K Muraguri G

Before you go…

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