On February 13, humanity celebrates the World Radio Day proclaimed in 2011 by the member states of theUNESCO and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012 as an International Day. Love or passion, radio is an integral part of my life and it has made me who I am today.
On the occasion of this day, I decided to write these lines to share my little experience of this media that has fascinated me for almost 10 years. Ten years of great experiences but also of endurance.
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A passion fed by my dad
Many may not know this. But if I am a radio journalist today, it is thanks to my late father. He was not a journalist but a Guinean customs officer very addicted at the time to foreign radio stations in particular RFAnd you BBC. We are in 1999, the airwaves are not yet free in Guinea, no private media, we have to be content with national radio, the only FM band where foreign radio stations can be picked up on short waves, especially on SW. At that time, my dad did not separate from his receiver. He was balancing between the Africa editions of BBC at 6:00 a.m. and RFI at 6:30 a.m. before going to work. And, I always have to be on the side. Even if I sometimes don’t understand what is being said. I remember that at times he would leave his receiver for me so that I could follow the newspaper and report back to him afterwards. A complicated exercise at first, but I’ll get used to it eventually. Is this a way to encourage me to become a journalist? I can’t answer because we never talked about it until his death. But the fact remains that the radio has become part of my habits. I went to bed and woke up with my little radio. Finally, my mom and my sisters will find me a little name: ”Facely radio”.
The school press as the beginning of the adventure
Once in college, I started to integrate the school press. Gathering information from everywhere and reading at the mast in the morning before the colors go up, that’s the role my friends and I had. Meanwhile, my little radio was still my companion. Sometimes I would drop out of class to go out and watch the newspaper or another favorite show. My classmates certainly remember it. And everywhere I went, I led the school press. From Ernesto College (Kissidougou) via Gonia College (N’zérékoré) to Félix Roland Moumié High School (N’zérékoré). This is where I will shine the most. At the time we went to other schools to perform and vice versa. With the support of the school administration and partners like Plan International Guinea, we took training in writing and journalistic genres with professionals who were sometimes brought in from Conakry. Personally, these trainings allowed me to learn and to discover my talent. In particular, I was asked to participate in programs on local radio stations.
At the university (Higher Institute of Arts of Guinea (ISAG) now Higher Institute of Arts Mory Kanté (ISAMK)), I see a void. Very quickly, I wrote a campus newspaper project titled “ONE INFO”. Seduced by the project, the management of the institute decided to provide support by making financial and material resources available to the head of the university publishing department, who would become the publication director and me the editor-in-chief. “ISAG Info” is a great success both within the campus and in other higher education institutions in the capital.
The experience of the school press helping, I assisted certain professors in particular in the courses of diction, radio practice and even journalistic writing. Before leaving the institute, we planned to have a frequency for the radio of the institute which was already in place and equipped.
Beginning of professional career
In the second year of university, my diction teacher, Mr. Odilon Théa, who has great admiration for me, decided to send me to Familia FM radio (Conakry) for an internship which was not going to continue because I had no not often transportation. So I’m waiting for the holidays to come and do my internship at the Zaly Liberté FM radio station that I knew well. Already in high school, we participated in programs on the station. The radio managers are very satisfied with my passage and will not hesitate to contact me after validation of the Bachelor’s degree. I held the position of Deputy Editor-in-Chief then Editor-in-Chief before resigning in October 2017 for personal reasons. But long before that, I was already collaborating with certain media, notably Radio Espace Guinée, Bonheur FM, the Guinéenews.org site as Head of Office, the newspaper La PlumePlus, Guinea’s first school and university news monthly, and so many others.
On April 10, 2018, the first signal of Radio Espace Forêt, a project I piloted, was launched. And two days later, I have the confidence of the CEO of Hadafo Media to run this radio. I was 27 at the time and I became the youngest radio director in Guinea.
Great experiences but also endurance
Through the radio, I traveled, I got to know great personalities and colleagues from here and elsewhere. And without modesty, the radio has made me the most famous resident journalist inside the country and the most followed on social networks.
Today, I am a member of several international journalist organizations including Reporters Without Borders (RSF) with the right to participate in the General Assembly, the International Center of Journalists (ICFJ) based in New York as a consultant. I also collaborate with international media including Aljazeera, RFI, BBC for major events in the region.
I am the first Guinean journalist to have alerted on the third mandate of the former President, Alpha Condé. The affair caused a stir and nearly cost me my life with the death threats of frozen militants and above all the attempted arrests orchestrated by the Director General of the Police at the time, Bangaly Kourouma, originally controversial remarks announcing the third mandate and even the mandate for life. It was in 2017.
I was also the first journalist to whom the famous prisoner Mohamed Diallo alias “Junior” granted an “unpacking” interview which shook the authorities and senior army officers. The article published on Guinéenews and the audio element broadcast on Radio Espace Guinée in the program “Les Grandes Gueules” were taken up by several foreign and local media.
Today and through our communication agency ”DIMIO”, my team and I support young pupils and students who want to do radio, through free training. With Radio Espace Forêt also, we grant internships to these young radio enthusiasts.
My passion and my love for this medium will never be extinguished.is !