By Tebby Otieno | tebbyotieno62@gmail.com
Even before George Edwin Kairu Karega, joined the School of Journalism to pursue a career in Media and Journalism, he was already writing stories.
The 2024 University of Nairobi graduate, has perfected his art of storytelling using his mobile phone so much that, he can tell stories from different parts of the world without carrying all the big cameras that most seasoned journalists use. This he says has helped him work with fewer resources.
“Getting content means creativity and having a network, a nose for news, and knowing what is happening,” he says.
When he finally joined Journalism school in 2020, Karega continued sharpening his mobile storytelling skills. His documentary for final-year project, was awarded a few months ago when he won the Young African Journalist of the Year 2024 Award.
He has also been awarded by The Iconic Brand Africa as one of the top ten media and Public Relations professionals in Africa. The accolade recognized his achievement in starting the Journalism and Media Opportunities community. It is the biggest LinkedIn community globally with over a hundred thousand members.
“The awards are a testament that people believe in young journalists by giving them opportunities to tell their stories and change people’s lives,” Karega says.
Karega graduated with a first-class honour in September last year and currently heads the Media for Environment, Science, Health and Agriculture (MESHA) social media department. He continues to perfect his Mobile Journalism (MoJo) storytelling skills during workshops organized by MESHA.
“Journalists being trained for MoJo is an opportunity to break the barriers. MoJo is the thing right now that allows us to reach stories even in the furthest and remotest places. You only need your mobile phone,” says the University of Nairobi alumni.
Techies like Karega who have embraced MoJo admit that the kind of quality they produce using a mobile phone is the same as those produced using a lot of gadgets like huge microphones, and huge cameras.
MESHA has been running a series of MoJo trainings for its members since 2022. Karega who has attended three of these classes attributes his video production success partly to the lessons gained in some of these classes.
“I have learned advanced editing techniques like adding the key frames rather than just creating posts and video generation and that is making my videos very interesting. The trick in better building skills is practicing,” he says.
While Karega is a journalist trained in an era where Artificial Intelligence (AI) and new gadgets are used in visual storytelling, MoJo trainers say that veteran journalists must reinvent, relearn, and be innovative because technology is unavoidable.
Through MoJo, journalists in Africa who would learn of technology decades later now have internet equaliser. They however say that journalists have to remain ethical while at the same time not being left behind.
“We must be careful, we cannot give away all our power and creativity to machines. We can work together with AI but we cannot leave it to make all our decisions because we are human beings who trust and believe in human beings,” says a MoJo enthusiast, Anthony Irungu.
As MESHA prepares to celebrate its 20th anniversary later this year, its more than a hundred members consisting of young, middle, and older generation journalists, say they are determined to embrace MoJo.
“Let us challenge each other with our MoJo content and always want to be that person to post rather than waiting for others. This way we can challenge our colleagues and have targets so that in the next six months we won’t start from scratch,” says Kevin Omollo, a MESHA member and founder of Lake Region Bulletin based in Kisumu.
According to Aghan Daniel, the MESHA Secretary journalists must be persistent, and stay on course while telling science stories, using their MoJo skills to save lives.
“MoJo is unique but every story must now be told using it. So, do not give up, when you are stuck please remember, that is where the learning begins. Learning is change because as you learn, something new is coming to your life,” says Aghan.
He added that by equipping MESHA members with skills, they will gradually embrace multiple news production platforms and become more competitive as the industry evolves.
“When you are learning, remember that it is gradual, we don’t expect you to know how to edit overnight. We have done what is called, creating an environment of learning, a seed has been planted and now it’s up to the participants to water the seed and perfect their editing skills,” he added.
He was addressing MESHA members during a two-day training on MoJo and AI held in Nairobi and attended by journalists and scientists from different parts of Kenya.
