EGERTON UNIVERSITY

NAKURU TOWN CAMPUS

FACULTY: ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

PROGRAMME: BA IN COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA

DEPARTMENT: LITERATURE, LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS

COURSE: INDUSTRIAL ATTACHMENT

COURSE CODE: COMM 390

TASK: ATTACHMENT REPORT

SUBMITTED BY: NG’ANG’A JOYCE WAMBUI

REG NUMBER: AP162/30278/07

SUBMITTED TO: COORDINATOR, BA COMM & MEDIA

SUBMITTED ON: 18th Nov 2009

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Attachment report for the period of February-May 2010.

At Baraka fm Nairobi-Bureau.

95.5 Baraka fm/FEBA Radio

PO Box 492620 GPO Nairobi, Kenya

Tel: 3874306, 3875361 Fax;3875878

Email: febaradio@maf.or.ke

Kayahwe Rd (Off Denis Pritt Rd)

Website: www.barakafm.org

Prepared By:

NAME OF STUDENT: NG’ANG’A JOYCE WAMBUI

ADMISSION NUMBER: AP162/30278/07

ADDRESS: PO Box 11613

NAIROBI

TEL: 0721648453

EMAIL: joycenganga09@yahoo.com

For:

THE DEPARTMENT OF LITERATURE, LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS

PO BOX 536
EGERTON

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Abstract

This report mainly shows what i did during my attachment period as from 23rd Feb 2010
to 21st May 2010 at Baraka fm/FEBA radio Nairobi-Bureau.

It shows the details of the organization where I was attached, including its objectives,
visions, mission, core values, service charter, activities and areas in which it operates.

It also highlights the main sections that I was attached and its activities together with how
I was involved in those activities and what I exactly did in applying my theoretical
knowledge into practice.

It also gives some of the challenges that I faced during my internship programme and
some of the recommendations that I find appropriate in making the internship
programmes a success both to the host organization and the institution.

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Introduction

This is an attachment report for the attachment period of January-May 2010 which
commenced on 23rd Feb 2010 and ended on 21st May 2010 at Baraka fm Nairobi/FEBA
radio Nairobi Bureau.

Baraka fm
FEBA Radio PO Box 492620 GPO Nairobi Kenya
Kayahwe Rd (Off Denis Pritt Rd)
Tel:3874306, 3875361 Fax;3875878
Email:febaradio@maf.or.ke

Baraka fm is an affiliate of FEBA Radio Kenya one of the associates of FEBA Radio
International which is a network of eleven interdependent national organizations based in
Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Lebanon, Mozambique, New Zealand, Pakistan, South
Africa, the UK and Zimbabwe..

FEBA Radio Kenya is part of the Movement for African National Initiatives (MANI)
whose purpose is to affirm, motivate, mobilize and network Christian leaders by inspiring
them with the vision of reaching the un-reached and at least evangelized in Africa.

I was attached at the news department section.

Date of Training: 23rd Feb to 21st May 2010

Host Supervisor: Young Muthomi

(News Coordinator Nairobi Bureau)

Institutional Supervisor: Richard Marundu

Supervisor’s Visit: Assessment 04th March 2010

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Host Institution-Baraka fm/FEBA radio Nairobi-Bureau

History

Sector, Radio-General

Organization Type, African Private Sector

Baraka fm was launched in February 2000 in Mombasa as a Christian radio station

owned by FEBA Radio Kenya .It operates as a commercial radio station and is the only
commercial radio station in the International FEBA (Far East Broadcasting Association)
family.

Baraka fm broadcasts in the national language Swahili.

The main aim of establishing the station was to broadcast programmes that have a
Christian worldview that have an impact on the lives of the people living in the coastal
region of Kenya.

At its launch, Baraka fm was the first FM station in Mombasa and its current coverage
extends to Watamu in the north coast and lungalunga on Kenya-Tanzania border.

Its key aim therefore is to reach the predominantly Muslim coastal population with the
gospel by creating a strong social presence within the community.

Despite being the first regional fm station in the coast, Baraka fm continues to be the
most popular station amongst coastal residents. This is according to independent research
mainly Synovate and Consumer insight.

Location

Baraka broadcasting station is in Mombasa on New Cannon Towers 8th floor. They also
have a Nairobi bureau located along Kayahwe Rd (Off Denis Pritt Rd) which gives them
accessibility to all their clients at short notice and to the latest news happenings.

Objectives

The objectives of FEBA Radio Kenya are:

i. To spread the gospel of Christ through electronic media in partnership with the
churches and Para-church organizations.

ii. To promote peaceful co-existence of Kenyan communities irrespective of their

ethnic backgrounds and religious orientation.

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 iii. To work in partnership with communities on promoting community development
and welfare.

Vision

The vision of FEBA Radio Kenya is to be:

A fully integrated high quality, high impact Christian media organization at the heart of
positive community and social transformation.

International Vision Statement

By the end of 2010, with God’s help, FEBA Radio will enhance the impact of its
ministry, so that three quarters of our responding audiences will be non-or nominal
Christian, of which at least a quarter will channel into relationship with a local body of
believers. Furthermore, churches in Africa, the Middle East and Asia will regard Feba as
an essential partner in fulfilling the great commission.

Mission

To create an environment that facilitates transformation of societies through programmes

relevant to their needs and in matters that affect their lives.

Core Values

FEBA Radio Kenya and Baraka FM are guided by core values that inform the way they
work and their relationships with their stake holder’s.

These are:

 Integrity:

We are committed to behavior that is consistent with what we project through our
programmes and activities. Knowing that we are often judged by what we say, we shall
maintain decency in our speech.

 Objectivity:

We seek to adopt a balanced approach to issues and shall as far as possible avoid personal
biases. We seek to be impartial and shall avoid programmes and activities that promote
political, class, gender ethnic or racial biases.

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  Creativity:

We are committed to originality and continuous improvement. We will always look for
new or different ways of doing things.

 Quality:

We seek to establish and maintain high standards in whatever we do. Our information
will be precise and well searched. We shall seek to be diligent and timely in our work.

 Honesty:

We are committed to keeping our world to our stakeholders and working with them in an
open manner. We hold ourselves accountable to the stakeholders and keep our promises
to them.

 Commitment:

We will uphold what the organization stands for and will work with minimal supervision.
We shall uphold Christian values in all our work.

 Community Orientation:

We are community focused. We will in our programmes and activities endeavor to

respond to the needs of the Coastal communities first.

Target Market

The primary target of Baraka fm is a Muslim 30-45 years wit a young family. The
secondary target is the youth 18-25.

Transmission

Baraka FM transmits within a total range of 120 kilometers from Mazeras on 95.5 MHz;
serving the whole of Mombasa Kilifi, Kwale, Watamu in the North, parts of Taita Taveta,
Ukunda in the South, Lunga Lunga on the Kenya Tanzania border, and up to Bachuma in
the West - this is the widest coverage at the Coast amongst FM radio stations.

Baraka FM has the widest reach among regional stations at the coast and is the only
station that speaks the language of the people. All their presenters are from the coast and
are well versed with the culture of the people.

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Programming

Programming covers most of the aspects of community life at the coast from pure
evangelism to development focused programming.

Baraka fm is sensitive to the needs of the predominantly Muslim population at the coast
and has been out to develop Christian broadcasting that can address these needs.

Baraka FM’s programs are tailored to inform, educate and entertain the listeners. Being
an Fm station, hourly news broadcasts; weather updates; traffic; shipping schedule; music
and community announcements are also core to the station.
Baraka FM has been committed to develop programmes that will address some of the
crucial issues that affect Women in the coast such as HIV/AIDS, health, education
amongst others For example, every week a doctor answers questions from listeners on
various health rated issues. They also have a weekly magazine program that discusses
day-to-day challenges that face women like divorce, unemployment, HIV/AIDS, violence
in the home etc.

The station also airs talk shows that discuss socio-political, environmental, economic
issues that are affecting the community on a daily basis. They actively interact with their
listeners at such times, by taking live calls where they express their opinions on issues
raised.

Studio services

Baraka has a modern state of the Art Studios located in Nairobi which are fully equipped
to handle all clients production needs in advertising, documentaries, music, jingles, video
production and editing and graphic design among others.

Staff Development

Baraka fm employees have continued to receive numerous awards and recognition from
the government and the civil society for their excellence in being able to produce
programs that have been relevant to the needs of the community.

Community Involvement

The radio station has been actively involved in the community and this has been
enhanced through the establishment of an Audience Relations Department that has
enabled them to work closely with the community by providing much needed counseling
services in response to listeners who have sought spiritual and other help.

The station has been involved in community appeals to assist people requiring
educational, and medical assistance, famine relief and various forms of support. They
have had their audience contributing funds to support their appeals for children, for food,

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medical and educational needs. They have a strong reputation as a station committed to
the good of the coast community.

In partnership with the church at the coast, the station has developed various outreach
programmes in response to social needs in the region.

Organizational Setup

Governance and Management Structure

The Board of Feba Radio Kenya is made up of 10 members that bring into the
organization diverse skills and competencies. The board is made up of prominent
individuals from the private sector, non-profit sector, leading academic institutions and
prominent religious leaders.

The management team is made up of the Chief Executive who is supported by three key
skilled and experienced managers. The senior managers are the station manager for
Baraka fm based in Mombasa, the marketing manager based in Nairobi, and the finance
and administration manager based in Nairobi.

Baraka fm has a total of 21 staff. The station has two staff in the creative team; six
presenters; five news staff; two drivers and three support staff. Since 95% of the news for
Mombasa emanate from Nairobi, 5% of the news staff are based in Nairobi.

The marketing department has five marketing executives of which three are based in
Nairobi and two are based in Mombasa. A large number of the marketing team is based
in Nairobi because the greater percentage of the advertising originates from Nairobi.

The Finance and Administration Department is supported by seven staff: The Department
has two Assistant Accountants, one Cashier/Receptionist, one Dept Collector, two
drivers, one technician and one messenger. In addition the Department supervises the
Nairobi studio that has two staff; the studio manager and a technician.

Section Attached

During my internship programme at Baraka fm, I was attached at the news department
which is very crucial in the success of the organization. While there I undertook various
tasks including writing radio scripts, editing of the same and downloading and editing
sound bytes.

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Role of News Department

News gathering and reporting

This department is responsible in news gathering and reporting where the reporters are
assigned duties and sent to the field where they gather news, write radio scripts and then
report.

Editing

This is where the news editors look into the news presented to them by reporters to make
corrections before the news is aired. The department consists of editors and subeditors
whose responsibility is to look into news before they are presented.

Editing of stories and sound bytes are done before stories go on air.

News anchorage

News bulletins are aired during Baraka’s subsequent news bulletins which occur at the
top of every hour.

The news bulletins do not include Business news and sports because they are scheduled
for different times of the day.

Duties as a Reporter at Baraka fm

Work programme & Activities

I was expected to report at Baraka fm offices at 8.00am in the morning and leave at 5.00
in the evening.

My day would begin by going through the newspapers before I was assigned any event to
attend or given any task to perform although this would depend on what the news editor
had in the docket for that day.

My supervisor would then present the docket for the day where each one of the reporters
was given a task to perform or a function to attend in gathering news of the day.

As one of the reporter’s crew we would then be driven to where the functions were being
held by the organization’s driver.

After attending a function I would go back to the office and do my story(s) after which I
would send them to the news editor at the broadcasting station in the headquarters
Mombasa via E-mail.

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After a certain function was through, sometimes my supervisor would ask me to attend
another one.

By the end of each day i found myself doing about two to three stories. The additional
stories apart from those that I attended the function were presented to me by my
supervisor for translation.

My supervisor also gave me the chance to be at the news desk and monitor everything
including receiving calls where we were invited for press conferences.

Also at the news desk I was able to receive the press statements from which I would do
stories.

During the 3months attachment period, I got the exposure of going to the field almost
daily to gather news from various sources: Press conferences, Workshops, Beat stories,
Media briefings, Forums Press statements, Media forums. However I didn’t specialize in
any field because my supervisor advised me not to at that time but promised me that by
the end of my internship programme I would be able to identify my field of interest.

Most of the stories that I did were aired in Baraka’s news bulletins which acted as a
motivation to me.

I did so many stories especially on education, constitutional matters

Most of the news gathering at Baraka fm Nairobi Bureau is done In Nairobi area and in
few cases we attended functions outside Nairobi.

Skills Gained

My internship at Baraka gave me hand skills in writing radio scripts, using recorders e.g.
in downloading sound bytes, editing them and attaching them to the news story.

I have gained skills in computer programs such as Adobe Audition, and also in handling
the microphone and recording scripts.

Challenges

One of the challenges that I faced during my internship was lack of securing a place in
the job market immediately. It took me almost a month to secure myself a position of
internship and therefore proved to be difficult hence reduced the chance of me working
for a long time. I started very late and school opened before I finished my attachment
period.

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The biggest challenge that I encountered at Baraka was the Kiswahili language that they
use to broadcast. During my course I wasn’t introduced to Kiswahili language hence
writing a radio script in Kiswahili was very difficult especially during my first days. As if
that wasn’t enough, it became more hectic when I was expected to write a business story
script. Given the great essence of time required in news making, the challenge made me
to take a lot of time to complete one story.

I faced challenges in handling journalistic equipments especially when I was given a

recorder and I couldn’t even fix the microphone to its stand. It was somehow
embarrassing because most of the other interns from other institutions were good doing
that.

Recommendations

i. Provision of Practical Oriented Sessions/Subjects

I would recommend my institution to provide its students with more practical oriented
subjects for example in handling of cameras, recorders and any other equipments which
are limited and very different from what is used in the real world of journalism. This will
ease their work when they go for their internship because they will not need to be taught
the basic things they should have learnt in class.

ii. Introduction of Kiswahili in the Curriculum

Use of Kiswahili in the field being my major challenge, I would recommend the
institution to introduce it in the curriculum in place of other units like Data Structures and
Computer Programming in order to make it easy for those who would like to venture in
media houses that broadcast in Kiswahili.

iii. Institution to assist future interns to secure attachment places

The university should make arrangements in future to help students going for their
internship secure places during their attachment period. This is because it was very hard
for me to get attachment and I really struggled from one organization to the next.

iv. Issuing of press cards

Working in the field without a press card was such a challenge because I would go to
certain functions or events and denied entry hence lacked the chance of getting a story.

I would recommend the institution to provide press cards for students who are going for
attachment to avoid such discrimination.

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Organization’s Responsibility

Although I got assistance especially when translating stories, I felt the organization didn’t
do its best in assisting me.
E.g. There was no particular person that I was attached to hence I relied in everyone and
most of those reporters were very busy and I had to wait for them for a long time before
they could attend to me.

The host organization could have helped me especially in voicing my stories which I felt
I didn’t get enough experience.

Observations

The purpose of the work I did was to enable me to get hands on experience of what goes
on in the real world of news reporting as well as get a taste of what I want to pursue as a
career in journalism.

I was able to apply most of what I have learnt in class in the different units aimed at
preparing me to be a journalist throughout my three years at Egerton University.

The work I undertook helped me interact with professionals in the media as well as
professionals in different fields therefore making contacts with important people in the
industry.

Undergoing the internship programme for three months helped me to gain skills and I felt
that the organization played its part in molding my career.

Before I joined Baraka fm I wasn’t interested in business stories but being given the
chance to go to the field and do business stories, I developed interest in the field and
during my last month at Baraka most of my assignments were on business functions and
this exposed me to writing business scripts.

At Baraka one is given the chance to practice any field as long as you feel you can handle
and by the end of the day you will know what interests you and what doesn’t.

In my practice as a media professional, I could attend functions and during the meeting I
could see how public relations professionals work and hence I got the idea behind PR and
some of its functions. E.g. when I attended a press conference I could get the PR
professionals organizing the event and issuing press statements or press releases to
members of the press.

Also when I was assigned news desk I could receive calls and this helped me in playing
the role of a PR.

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Conclusion

As I conclude this report, I would like first of all to thank my host institution for the
opportunity that they gave me to apply the theoretical knowledge gained in class and
putting it into practice.

The attachment period helped me to realize my strengths and weaknesses and as a result I
can now be able to focus on what I want in my career as a media specialist.

The attachment period has molded my career both as a media professional and PR
professional and also as a communicator in general.

I am also happy that I overcame the Swahili challenge and came to love it and it became
a basis of my career. I regard that an achievement in my internship. Realizing that
challenges can become really become the basis of one’s a success is something I am
proud of.

After my internship I have identified that I can do well in Swahili hence I would like to
venture in media as a Swahili reporter.

Being that few are interested in Swahili gives me an ample chance to work especially in
international radio media houses as a Swahili professional.

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