Roving the African continent to report the bloodiest conflicts is a far cry from being a polished news anchor, sitting behind a desk. Tomi Oladipo (@Tomi_Oladipo) has shown incredible range in his career working for the BBC for 12 years in Africa before becoming a news presenter for German broadcaster DW News in Berlin. Tomi discusses the toll of continually reporting on violence and reflects back on how he feels about many of those stories now.
Countries featured: Nigeria, Kenya, Germany, UK, Sudan
Publications featured: BBC, DW News
Tomi discusses working during coronavirus in Germany (1:30), his birth in the UK and tough times growing up in Nigeria (4:00), moving to Kenya to finish school and getting a taste of the world (10:16), working his way up as a BBC intern (17:17), returning to Nigeria and how he covered the rise of Islamic militants Boko Haram (22:30), expanding to cover conflicts all over Africa (37:26), what his work is like at DW News (40:04), missing out on Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe's downfall (45:05), covering the popular uprisings in Sudan that toppled the dictatorship (49:37) and finally the lightning round (53:54).
Here are links to some of the things we talked about:
DW News website - https://bit.ly/3i7XBAu
African Writers Series of books - https://bit.ly/2CNcxUG
Tomi's story 'Has an internet blackout killed Sudan's revolution?' - https://bit.ly/2NznLhD
Hazardous handshakes and other indignities in the time of Ebola - https://bit.ly/2BgeSab
The Athletic's podcasts - https://bit.ly/31lzp7M
A Great Day in Harlem jazz documentary - https://bit.ly/3i7XMMa
Giant Steps by Kenny Mathieson - https://amzn.to/2BPzG8f
The Bang Bang Club - https://amzn.to/3dLfjGU
The Vulture and the Little Girl photo - https://bit.ly/2CI02JP
Photo of Tomi at Nairobi attack in the NYT - https://nyti.ms/3i6PDYz
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Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats
From: freemusicarchive.org