TVC Logo & Stella Din-Jacobs. |
Unprofessionalism
is one virus that has eaten deep into the fabric of the broadcast industry in
Nigeria today that sometimes, you wonder if certain faces we see on TV,
and....listen to on Radio were ever trained at all.
My
focus here maybe biased, based on the fact that I am a TV person, the only time
you’ll catch me listening to radio would be when the CD player in my car
refuses to play due to 2019 ELECTION. Lol.
I
watch Channels, TVC, AIT (when my darling friends, Osadolor-Ehima Kambili is
casting, Ma’am Lara Wise was there, Jire Kufuriji because of her tongue, Tonia
Ike-Ejeye because she is my mummy), MBI those days, Galaxy TV when I have
someone on air, MITV when I want to see the face of my mentor, Nonye Osi, LTV
when I’ve missed the face of my friend, Adetola Kayode, Super Screen TV when I
wanna see my darling Ify Ubah anchor the Launch-Hour Show, NTA when I want to
see NDI AKA OCHIE, like Claire Adelabu- Abdulrazak, or Newsline when I want to
feel how yellow women feel, especially when Becky Ebanehita Madojemu is the
anchor.
In
all these, unprofessionalism is a very big challenge I see all the time.
A
caster makes several mistakes on the News at 10am for instance, the same caster
is brought back on the News at 12noon, he makes same mistakes, at 4pm, he is on
air, doing same thing, MISTAKES.
Let
me use this to buttress my point!
I
have watched consistently ‘’NEWS XTRA’’ on NTA Network Service, which
airs Wednesdays, 9pm -10:30 pm, anchored by very beautiful and intelligent
Fatimah Abbas-Hassan and I am not always pleased with watching her as she is
always stuttering on air.
Every
Wednesday, Ma’am Fatimah repeats these very frequent mistakes of misspellings,
mispronunciations, missing of her lines, going off notes and the next time you
see her on the same program, nothing changes, same mistakes, making some of us
wonder if there is anything like GAKE-KEEPING in the News-Room of NTA, where
casters are corrected and maybe retrained in some cases, especially some of
them who see themselves as both ANCIENT and MODERN.
Having
said that, there is just, if not only, ONE-PERSON in the broadcast industry
whom I regard as the antidote for all PROFESSIONALISM SICKNESSES in the sector,
a woman who has earned for herself, huge respect as one who does not joke when
getting the job done is concerned, a pacesetter whose watchword for me is, ‘’DO
THE JOB WELL & WE’RE FRIENDS’’, very tough (oh, you guys who are my friends
aware that I love very tough women), advocate for quality broadcasting and
delivery and she is, Mrs. Stella Din-Jacob, The Director Of News, TVC
Communications Ltd, owners of TVC News!
Stella
Din as her friends call her, INFACT, THIS HER ‘’JACOB’’ THING SEF NO DEY GREE
PEOPLE ADD SOMETIMES, is one woman who does not take half measures, it’s either
100% or nothing, especially when the caster is doing not the News Director a
favor, but him or herself whom the viewers sees on TV, but always want the best
on TV, which is why a lot of people, the VERY LAZY AND UNPROFESSIONAL
NEWSCASTERS are always afraid of her person at all times.
From
Channels TV, to MBI, LTV, STV, now with TVC, Stella Din-Jacobs has Consulted
and Managed News platforms in such manner that has seen these stations stand
out as the best of what they do, NEWS under her watch as Manager.
In
2005/2006 for instance, Minaj Broadcast International, MBI won TV Station of
the Year, barely over a year Stella Din took over as Manager. In 2018, TVC won
Station of the Year, a few weeks after coming on board as Director of News Of
the station, showing to us that this lady has exactly what it takes to
transform the Newsroom, which is the heartbeat of every broadcast outfit,
especially those of them with News as their core-competence.
But
why do practitioners such as Newscasters hate, no, let me use the word, dislike
Stella Din-Jacobs in such a manner that makes some of them resign or run when
she gets to a place as Manager? Does it have anything other than doing her job
attached or these people feel she is too harsh to be associated with at the
workplace?
Speaking
to us, her former colleague at Silverbird Television, Mr. Uzonna Ononye says, “I
worked with Stella in MBI and then STV and I can tell you that she only demands
top quality performance from everyone”.
For
the period we worked together, I studied and I understood her.
Some
of those people who feel uneasy around Stella are just too lazy to work and are
not ready to learn. If they get that fowl end of the stick, all they will
talk about will be how this person did this and that. That's human though, so
it does not really matter.
I
have been in STV for close to 9 years and have occupied a managerial position
for over 6years. I have a few of such experience, Mr. Ononye ended.
Another
of her colleague who spoke to us, Lara Owoeye-Wise says, ‘’With Stella, there
are no half-measures or short-cut to doing your job well’’.
I
have worked with her, first at STV and later at MBI, she is a sticker for
professionalism. You must resume work when you are supposed to resume, close when
you are supposed to close. You fall sick suddenly, you must call to inform the
office, not zoom off and not come to work for 3 days and then one day, stroll
back into the office as if you are not answerable or accountable to
anyone.
Lara
continues: “I will not tell you Precious that I didn’t have my issues with
Stella, but, all the issues I had with her were all professional and never
anything personal. How to put my graphics better, do my voicing better, how to
do my reports better, my scripts better and look, I would love to work with her
over and over again, because she leaves you better than she met you. So, it is only
the very lazy and unprofessional guys in this job that will question Stella’s
abilities in turning around the News-Room and I am a better broadcaster
practitioner today because I listened and learnt under Stella Din as my boss.
Conclusively,
I am of the opinion that TVC Communications Ltd has really gotten it right this
time around, especially where News is concerned and with their outing at the
just concluded Nigeria Media Merit Awards, combined with Stella Din-Jacobs
efficiency, winning more STATION OF TJE YEAR will come as easy as drinking
chilled bottle of water under a very hot sun.
Written
by the PUBLISHER!
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