REPORT ON INTERNSHIP WITH THE VOICE OF
SEPTEMBER
– OCTOBER 2004
Student: EDWIN MPOKASYE Prof: ROBERT WHITE, SJ
Matriculation 152507
Table of Contents
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………3
1. Information about Swahili program of Voice of
a.
Location…………………………………………………………………………4
b. Voice of
c. Object
…………………………………………………………………………..5
d. Voice of
e. Participation of
listeners
…………………………………..
…………………..6
f. News Structure
……………………………………………….
………………. 7
j. Staff and Management
………………………………………………………….7
k. Finance ………………………………………………………………………...7
2. The experience gained from the Internship ……………………………..……………...8
a.
Editorial Meetings with staff
…………………………….
……………………8
c.
Programmes produced
………………………………………………………….8
d.
The things gained which will be helpful
……………………………………….9
3. Creative aspect on challenges and creativity
…………………………….……………10
a. Distribution of labour
…………………………………………………………10
b.
Challenges of the Swahili Service
……………………………………………11
c.
Suggestion to improve the Swahili service
……………….
………………….11
Concluding
remark……………………………………………………………….12
Introduction
The purpose of this report is to give an insight into the Swahili
Service of the Voice of America, which is under International Broadcasting
Bureau, where I did my internship from 21 Sept –
The Language of Swahili is spoken across more of
But the important thing is that the peoples of various East African
countries can make themselves understood to one another despite these small
differences. Because Swahili is spoken across such vast areas of the African
continent, it is now considered one of the official languages of Africa Union
(AU).
I expected to arrive in
I would like to thank the coordinator of the Internship Program at the
In a special way I want to thank the Superior General of the Society of
the Divine Saviour, Fr. Andrew Urbańskė, SDS and
its Generalate for funding the expenses for my
journey in order to make this project a success. Also I would like to thank the
generosity of the Salvatorian Fathers and Brothers,
and Lay Salvatorians in the
The Salvatorian missionaries from
On
September 21, 2004 Mr. Emanuel Muganda, the head of
the Swahili Service welcomed me at the “Voice of America” (VOA) and introduced me to the staff.
Before
being assigned any duty, I, first, had to be fingerprinted for security
reasons, I had to fill out some forms and then I met Ms. Pollack who is the
Personnel Management Specialist dealing with internships.
1.
Information about the Swahili program of Voice of
a.
Location
The
studios of Voice of America (VOA) are located in
b.
Voice of
It
is now 40 years since the establishment of the Swahili Service in May 1964. It
broadcasts 6 hours a-week on Direct and Simulcast Broadcasting plus 6
five-minute news drops on FM 107.5 in
It
broadcasts in different meter band in 13, 16, 19, 21 and 30.
c.
Object
The
Voice of America is presenting American Policy to the world.
The
radio has a weekly house adapted Swahili program which caters to its listeners
on the “World of Sports”, which talks about the major events
of sports with the specific targeted areas of the
“World
of Women”, which discusses gender issues, issues affecting women,
child rearing and the role of women in society and their place and development.
“Sunday
Magazine” which gives interviews in a format that adapts house script
on interesting issues to Africa in the “World of Women”,
“Science and Health” and exposes issues related to the subject,
“Farmers Forum” and “African events” and International
topics in “World Issues” and “America Today”, to
prepare programs VOA use a French DALET
5.1 Digital Media System.
My
mind was opened when “hurricane Jeanne” stormed
e.
Participation of listeners
VOA is striving to be near to its
listeners like the show, “Request Time.” This show is a music
format and “Question and Answer,” which invites the listeners to
record there questions and requests.
The
music show “American Pops exposes American musicians in
f.
News structure
The
one-hour radio show from Monday through Friday, which the Swahili program
offers integrated a newscast, which VOA correspondence
report (CN) and stringers (SU) and some from staff
origin. The service uses at least three to four correspondent reports in its
newscasts from Monday to Friday.
j.
Staff and Management
The
service has seven fulltime International Broadcasting Bureaus, four from
Tanzania and two from Kenya, one the Comoros Island, it has a blend of
Kiswahili from the coast to the interior, many of them are professional, others
had worked with the government media and tutors of social communication in
Tanzania and Kenya, and eventually they have experiences with different radios
in Europe which use Kiswahili as their language for broadcasting, like British
Broadcasting Corporation and Deutsch Welle.
k. Finance:
The service is totally funded by International Broadcasting
Bureau
2.
The Experience gained from the internship
a. Editorial
meetings with the staff
I
was able to participate in daily meetings at the level of service, in which the
chief of Swahili was briefing the other members of the staff about important
news that should be broadcasted especially the main three news areas, which are
specifically categorised that must be run reflecting the policy of the United
State of America and the news items which are recommended, but this does not
mean the broadcaster should not have their own freedom of creativity.
b.
The
c.
Programmes produced
For
the most part, I was assigned to translate news from English to Kiswahili,
which I did, and then to read and record these news items for the news bulletin
of that day. I was able to read once for the news bulletin for
d.
The things gained which will be helpful
ˇ
Working without fear and with
confidence putting in mind the philosophy of the station and it’s objectives, of course, the use of a convincing
voice on the microphone.
ˇ
The role of the chief of the Swahili
service in the daily activities of the station, on how to facilitate or
coordinate the day´s responsibility and the
responsibility of the staff members on the issues of the day.
ˇ
Good relations and understanding of
the staff is very important
ˇ
I was left speechless, as to how the
broadcaster is able to communicate anywhere even able to call the presidential
office to look for clarification on pressing issues.
ˇ
The close watch out to trouble areas
like
ˇ
Communication between the Swahili
service and correspondence and stringer is good, it is obvious the voice of
ˇ
My finding is this many African
leaders and oppositions trust that the big institution like “voice of
ˇ
Most of all I learned to be
responsible for my duties and to my colleagues.
3.
Creative aspect on challenges and creativity
a.
Distribution of labour
ˇ
The role of the coordinator is to
guide the service on a weekly basis. This person was able to bring inspiration,
hope and trust that all broadcasters are equal in terms of broadcasting.
ˇ
The role of producer is to work
between a sound engineer and the broadcaster. He is responsible for putting
various elements of the one-hour show, also he helps broadcaster to record the
news.
ˇ
The MC of the day is another creative
aspect on how to coordinate the one-hour show, by planning out the day show and
providing more entertainment.
ˇ
The structure of the one hour show,
which starts with a Billboard, during which the MC tells the listeners where
the radio is being broadcasted from, in which meter band, where the radio
reaches in
b.
Challenges of the Swahili Service
ˇ
It broadcasts only once a day to
eastern African countries, which also faces a stiff competition from other
radio stations like BBC and Radio Deutsch Welle, who’s radio broadcasts twice a day.
ˇ
There is competition also from FM
radio station in
c.
Suggestion to improve the Swahili services
ˇ
If possible the hour of broadcasting
a day could be increased.
ˇ
More creativity such as introducing
new programs to reach the targeted audience, like youth etc.
As
a student of social communication this trip has brought to my mind the passion
of radio as a tool for social change. One of beneficial elements which I would
like to thank
The
structure of the Voice of America is different than that of community radio,
which I am interested in. By knowing these differences it has helped me to
understand the type of administration of different kinds of radios broadcasting
services.
As
the day of my departure arrived, I said goodbye to the staff and thanked them
for there hospitality and for allowing me to handle the microphone and to
speak, which in other places would not be easy, I was overwhelmed by there
trust and support on me.
By
Brother Edwin, SDS