INTERVIEW: I Felt Like Giving Up, But Then Something Happened – Adebisi Adetunji Speaks On Media Talk Show • Advises Prospective, Young Media Professionals
Mosope Kehinde
A media and development communication professional, the host “Media Talk Show With Adebisi”, Princess Adebisi Adetunji has revealed why she was motivated to begin the media talk show in 2024.
Adebisi who has over twenty years experience as a broadcaster and has calved a niche for herself in documentary, human capacity and health communication as a health champion, said the main drive behind the talk show was to see colleagues in the industry do better and be relevant in the technology driven times.
In this interview with newsarena.ng, Adebisi shared with Mosope Kehinde, her experience within the first year of the show, identifying challenges, collaboration and prospect
Enjoy!
Give a brief of your bio
Adebisi Adetunji is a Media and Development Communications professional with over 20 years’ experience working as a Broadcaster, Content design, creative writer, Media Trainer and Social and Behavior change communicator.
I am an author who has written 5 books, Undaunted (The Journey and Lessons of 20 years of Media Practice,) “Fighting Fibroids,” “Sagacious Bites for Life”, “Borrow Sense for the Workplace”, and “Evolve, Modify and Grow for Media Professionals”.
I am the host of the Media Talks Show, Evolve-Modify-Grow Podcast and Lead Instructor of the E.A.T Audio Drama Bundle Course (Story Development, Scriptwriting and Production)
Question:
Within the last one year of the Media Talk Show with Adebisi, what has been the experience, looking at the challenges, opportunities, collaboration
Answer:
It all started with a desire to see colleagues in the media profession (TV, Radio, Print & digital media) succeed more on the job through acquiring 21st century digital skills, peer and veteran learning to sustain professionalism.
The first few episodes of the Media Talks show started out as webinars where experts in the broadcast and digital savvy individuals facilitated training sessions.
Then, I decided to make it a one-on-one interview/conversation with my guests.
This provided a platform for deeper conversations around experience sharing, latest practices in the industry and more.
Some of the challenges of putting such a show together and sustaining it include:
Having the necessary tech tools such as a good computer, knowledge of collaborative tools such as Google Meet & Zoom.
Cost incurred from subscribing to Google Meet to enable recording of sessions and down loads; data for internet, purchase of ring light to improve on video quality; electricity stress and therefore having to fuel generator.
Time management, booking and scheduling workable time with guest and juggling other aspects of my life
Editing of videos is also time consuming
Question:
Do you ever feel like giving up
Answer:
There were times when I felt like giving up and simply pausing the show for sometime. Recently, it felt a bit too much and I was planning on pausing recordings for a while. Then something happened to remind me that the Media Talk show is already a year old!! Looking back at how far I have come in recording about 27 episodes in just 12 months, I became motivated to push on.
Furthermore, in recent times, the show is beginning to gain traction, people are beginning to reach out to connect me to likely guests I could feature on the show. And then, a few international journalists from across Africa somehow came on the show.
So, we are gradually expanding beyond the borders of Nigeria.
For me, the Media Talks gives room for collaborations with colleagues across the traditional and digital media to provide a peer and veteran learning opportunity. A tool for bringing the old and audacious new media professionals together
Question: The show seems to centre more on capacity building of media professionals, Why media professionals, why capacity building…. What informed your choice of focus.
Answer:
I cut my teeth in broadcasting on the medium, radio and was privileged to have worked at the prestigious Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria for over 20 years as a Youth Corper, freelance and staff member. So, I am a media professional myself with years of experience in the industry. In my journey as a media and communications professional, I have experienced growth and progress that didn’t come by doing things following the statuesque.
I was fortunate to great mentors, pushed myself looking for every opportunity to build capacity, learn and deliver more on my job. This led me to apply for and attending fellowships and courses; learning about digital tools as the landscape evolved; and moving into the development space where I have worked with colleagues from across the media spectrum.
I noticed certain gaps and dissatisfaction among colleagues I encountered in the industry and so I thought to myself that I could be the bridge to build these gaps through a peer learning platform.
And so, my main drive is to see colleagues in the industry do better, grow, expand, be more relevant even in the technology driven times we are in and basically become successful in the profession.
The Media Talks show is here to point media professionals to opportunities that abound out there and inspire each other to make a success of our careers at the local, national and global stage
Question:
What motivates you to be consistent, do you ever feel discouraged.
Answer:
Ahhh…yes, many times. Recently, I considered pausing because I was in between jobs and it became a bit tough coping with the heavy bills required to make each episode. For every episode of the Media Talk show, I would spend at least nothing less than 20,000 – 25, 000 Naira (Fuel for generator, data for recording, downloading for editing & uploading on YouTube).
This is asides the need to invest in change of clothes so as to not always show up in the same dress …hahaha. And then as women, makeup and hairdo is still there… (smile) Wahala.
I like things simple, so it is not every time I feel like dressing up and making up just to show up for my recording session, but do it any way.
So, just as I was considering pausing the show recently, due to the pressure of life, I believe God, sort of caused me stumble on something online that made me realize that the show clocks 1 year this April.
I thought to myself wow…this is worth celebrating! In addition, I started to seamlessly get new notable guests for the show and then friends and family, would reach and say, “you are doing such a great job with your show.”
All of these sort of encouraged me and I got my swag back to continue with the show even in the face of all the challenges …which are not insurmountable. I mean good things that will make lasting impact take to build.
Question:
As a media expert with many years experience in the field, what would you advise prospective/young media professionals
Answer:
I would say come into the industry with big dreams. Have an open mind to learning and never stop learning. Be willing to evolve and grow because the media landscape keeps expanding. Most importantly, professionalism should be your mantra, don’t settle for “wishy…washy” way of doing things.
You must answer the question, “do I want to be a local champion or global champion”? This will define the kind of work you must put into your career.
Question:
Where do you see the show in the next five years.
Answer:
I look forward to the Media Talks with Adebisi Adetunji becoming the go to resource/experience learning platform for mass communication/media studies students, and media professionals across the world.
You can reach Adebisi on +234 70 834 031 46
