By Khalifa Hemed
Published October 6, 2019
A new trainee scheme for journalists with disabilities in Kenya has been announced.
Known as Aim High and offered by British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)’s Bureau in Nairobi, the three-month programme is said to be ‘open to to anyone with a disability, hidden or visible, who is interested or experienced in journalism’.
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Anthony William Hall (Tony Hall), the Director-General of BBC, said in Nairobi, that hosts the second largest bureau of BBC after the headquarters in London, that the new initiative will offer three-month placements to three aspiring journalists with disabilities, starting from April 2020. During the placement, Hall said, the trainees will spend their time at the Sh38.2 billion BBC bureau in Nairobi working with news teams in various African languages and working on television programmes as well as digital content production.
Calling on people to apply for the initiative, Baron Hall of Birkenhead said, “Aim High will give aspiring journalists with disabilities hands-on experience, bespoke training and mentoring.”
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BBC not only has a long-standing commitment to Africa and telling African stories, Hall said, but that it wants “develop independent journalism on the continent, and to support those whose voices often don’t get heard. We know it’s hard for people with disabilities to get opportunities in journalism.”
Aim High comes hot on the heels of several other capacity-development initiatives for the next generation of African journalists and producers to what BBC, that says it reaches ‘more than 100 million people every week’, describes as ‘world class standards’.
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While in Kenya, Tony Hall announced the launch of Kenya Connects, a current affairs programme targeting younger people that BBC co-produces with Standard Media Group’s Kenya Television Network (KTN).
BBC says Kenya connects is a weekly 30-minute current affairs television programme focusing on stories in Kenya and how they connect with the rest of the world.
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The first TV co-production for BBC in Kenya, Kenya Connects what BBC describes as ‘original journalism and interviews with change makers/influencers’.
BBC operates in 13 languages across the Africa and has launched more than 20 new television programmes over the last 18 months.
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