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PRESENTERORANNOUNCER?

BYSAMSOKO

Ifoneweretoputavalueonallthingsofthisworld,Ithinkinformationwouldbe

oneofthemostexpensiveitemsonthelist.Knowledgeacquiredorsuppliedwould

probablycomesecondtothepossessionoflife.Thisfactisprovenbyhowincoming

and outgoing traffic of facts drives daytoday living. Lets be honest: news

determinesthefuture.Itspresentationhasthus,overtheyears,developedintoan

art, from being merely a chronological recitation of events. In both radio and

televisionthepersonalitiesthatarefacedwiththetaskofgivinginformationhave

stoppedbeingjustcouriersto theirviewers.Theyembodytheeffectof technology

onjournalismthroughtheiraudiovisualpresence,personalizingeventsfromhalfway

across the globe, and bringingthem inreal time into the presence ofan involved

audience.

There are several roles in the dispensation of the news, and some of themore

important ones include that of the analystalso called a newscaster or news

anchortoexamine,interpret,andbroadcastnewsreceivedfromvarioussources.

News anchors present news stories and introduce videotaped news or live

transmissions fromonthescene reporters. The reporters, themselves, investigate

leadsandnewstips,lookatrelevantdocuments,observeeventsatthescene,and

interviewpeople.Reporterstakenotesandsometimesphotos,orevenshootvideos.

Theyorganizethematerial,determinethefocusoremphasis,writetheirstories,and

editaccompanyingmaterialforpresentation.

Withduerespecttothemanyqualified,talentedmembersofthepress,mostofthe

news content we watch and listen to these days can be compared to a well

decoratedcakethattastesstale.Mostreportslook illprepared.Headlinespromise

much,yetgivelittle.Thequestforwhatisconsideredtobebeautyandimitationof

internationalstudioshastakenoverthatfortheaccuratesharingoftruth.Whenone

looks at the quality of the reports, one considers, among many things, the

pronunciationofwordsanduseofgrammar,whethertheitemhasbeeneditedfora

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givendirectionorbias,researchonwhatisbeingpresented,videoandaudioquality

and much more. However, themost important element of any newscast, in my

opinion,isthenewspresenter.

Lookatitthisway,wheneveroneisgoingtogiveanyinformationthatmattersto

someoneelse,dotheysendjustanyonetodoit?Thepointofthenewscastisnot

onlyabouttheinformation,butalsohowwasitpresented.Theeffectthatthenews

presenterhasonhisorheraudiencecannotbequantified.InthetraditionalAfrican

setup,criers,whowerewhatwemayequatetothepress,weresoimportantthatin

somesocietiesthetechniqueandmodesofpresentationwerepassedsolelyalong

onechosenfamilyline.Toputitsimply,presentingnewsisnotajobforeveryone.

NolongerdowehavequalitynewspresenterscastinthemouldsofLeonardMambo

Mbotela,CatherineKasavuli,ElizabethOmollo,NjorogeMwauraandmanyothersas

wedidyearsago,fluentandexpressive,yetsoberinpresentationandmatureand

unbiasedinoutlook.EventhoseoftherecentpastlikeZainVirjeehaveeitherretired

ormigrated.Butwhenonehearsstatementsliketriplew Insteadof www,and

primetimereportswhereastoryonababysunusualnamegetsequalormoretime

thanthatofanalmostextinctKenyantribe,onerealizesthatthereisaproblem.

Thefollowingobservationsandpointersmaybetakenasadviceforthosewhomay

want todevelop further in theircareersorat leastearn the trustofmostof the

viewersanytimetheyarepresenting.

Whattowear

Amajor concern:throughout thehistoryofTV journalism, thepresshavedefined

parametersfortheappropriateappearanceofitspresentingmembers,withtheidea

beingtohavesomeonedressedsmartlyanddecently,lookingclassy,commanding

bothrespectandearswillingtoheartheirmessage.Andyet,overtheyears,these

ruleshavebeenloosenedandnewscastershavebeenappearingastrendsettersand

fashionplatesandmaybeevenadvertisingforlocaldesigners.Thismaybepartofa

strategytocreateapersonathatappealstomoremodernviewers,butattheendof

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theday,newspresentationisonlyaboutthenewsandtheviewer.Colourandhaut

couture may actually do more harm than good by upstaging the news. The

presentationitself shoulddeterminewhetheronegets theviewersattention,not

theirtrendysmartcasualattireorfreshlydonehair.Thenewscasterisnotamodel.

Theheadlinealoneshouldleadonetothestoryandcarrytheaudiencethroughto

theend,orwillashortskirt,smartsuitandflashyshoesbewhattheyremember?

Hungerandthirstforknowledge

To be a credible presenter onemust continuously update his or her knowledge

aboutwhatisgoingonintheworld.Thebestnewsanchorsmonitorsocial,political

and culturaldevelopmentgloballyona dailybasis. Theyare always learningnew

words,pronouncingunfamiliarnameswithseemingfacility,andreadingconstantly

sothattheylookknowledgeableandsharetheirfactswithoutshowingoff.Modern

audiences are not easy to fool; they can tell one who has just crammed his

information for presentations sake from one who actually knows what they are

saying.Andwhenonepresentationisdone,theypassionatelypreparefor thenext

as though it had never been done before. Effective news people always seek

answersonbehalfoftheaudiencewhoarenotpresentwiththem.

TimeandSacrifice

Thedecisiontobeanewscastersignsoneup,notsomuchforglamourandfame,

butforstrenuousworkconditionsandlonghours.Fewcountthecostandassuch

communicatetheirconflictedattitudesandfatiguetotheaudience,who,itmustbe

said,couldnotcareless.Butwhenthisisdone,thecommunicationofthenewsis

compromised.Ifonecannotgivetheirbestoneshouldnotsignupforthisdifficult

task.Oneshould alsospendtimeandevenmoneylearningvaluableskills suchas

goodpronunciation,diction,voiceexercises soastoalways improvemethod and

delivery.

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HaveLife!

Idonotthinkthatanypresenterwouldliketolosetheirjobtoarobot.Ifthisisso

they should then not behave as though they were machines. One should give a

humanfacetowhattheyaresaying.Thisdoes,however,notmeanlookinghappy

whenreadinggoodnews,soundinglikeoneisatwarbyusingheavytonesforasad

story,orevenliketheyareplayfulbyusingexcitedvoiceswhenannouncingasports

win.Itdoesmeanthatnewspresentersmusthavetheabilitytostaycalmandshow

thought and purpose before commenting on what they are reading or asking

questionsaboutit.Thesayingyoucannevertrustaclownwithamessageteaches

thepresenterthatjokingaroundmaybefunnytoonesfriends,butfriendsarenot

ones sole audience. If a presenter becomes known for being a joker, it may

jeopardizehiscommunicationoftragicandseriousnewsbecausepeoplemaythink

itwas aprank. One should knowthateveryreport theypresentmay contain the

biggeststoryoftheircareer,andtheywillalwaysberememberedastheonewho

toldittothepeople,andshouldthereforeactwithaccordinggravity.Likeinanyart,

one should let personality and emotions flow through without messing with

presentation.Rememberingthatoneisjustanotherhumanbeingliketheaudience

ishelpful.Think RichardQuestnotData(therobotfromStarTrek)itisthebalance

betweenauthorityandwarmth,whichwillgiveanypresenterhumanityandlife.

Beapresenter,notanactor

Tobethebestonedoesnotneedtomodelthemselvesentirelyonotherswhohave

succeeded,butratherpicktraitsthatworkanddeveloponesownpersonality.One

does not have to copy the exact persona or accent of renowned anchors at

internationalstations.Asapresenteryouarenotanentertainerbutarepresentative

ofyouraudience.

Finally,everyonecantellastorybutnoteveryonecantellastorywell.Sadly,there

areveryfewtalentedpresenterscurrentlyonKenyanTV.

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However,thebulkofthemareyoungandhopefullyteachable,andiftheylistento

instructionandconstructivecriticism,theycanmorethan likelygrowinabilityand

becomesocialandpoliticalcriticswhowillstandfortruthandcatalyzedevelopment.