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Her Media Diary Episode 48: “Bringing Rigour to African Journalism” with Stephanie Busari
14 Plays12 days ago
Stephanie Busari is the founder and CEO of SBB Media, an organisation dedicated to ensuring that Africa's stories are authored, owned, and told by those who understand its soul. She is also an Emmy Award-winning journalist and Former Head of Africa digital team at CNN.
In April 2016, she exclusively obtained the “proof of life” video showing that the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls. This footage was crucial in facilitating negotiations that led to the release of over 100 girls.
In this episode, she talks about the ethics of storytelling, the responsibility of media in times of crisis, and what it takes to lead in international journalism as an African woman. Stephanie, among other things, advises African women to learn the act of putting their hands out to do challenging but impactful work.
Subscribe, leave a review and share this episode with someone who needs to hear it.
If you’d like to join an episode of this podcast, send an email to yemisi@africanwomeninmedia.com. Or visit our website at www.hermediadiary.com
Subscribe and follow Her Media Diary on all your favourite podcast platforms, Also, tune in to our partner radio stations from anywhere across Africa. And don’t forget to join the conversation using the hashtag, #hermediadiary.
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Transcript
Introduction: Her Media Diary Podcast
00:00:03
Speaker
welcome to hemi did iary the podcast where African women share their real stories, bold moves, and behind-the-scenes moments that shaped their journeys. I'm your host, Dr. Yemisi Akimobola, and with each episode, we're pulling back the curtain on what it really means to build a media career, break barriers, and stay true to your voice.
00:00:23
Speaker
So whether you're starting out or you're already making waves in the industry, this space is definitely for you.
Spotlight on Stephanie Boussari
00:00:29
Speaker
So my guest today is a powerhouse in global journalism, Stephanie Boussari, CNN's former Nigeria Bureau Chief and head of CNN's Africa Digital Team.
00:00:40
Speaker
From breaking major stories to framing how Africa is represented on the global stage, Stephanie's work has challenged stereotypes, moved hearts, and changed policy conversations.
Ethics and Leadership in Journalism
00:00:54
Speaker
In this episode, we talk about the ethics of storytelling, the responsibility of media in times of crisis and what it takes to lead in international journalism as an African woman.
00:01:07
Speaker
Trust me, you want to hear this story.
00:01:20
Speaker
We've been trying our best to get technology to comply today. And it's quite hot where you you are there Lagos. and So, but thank you so much for joining us for the podcast.
00:01:31
Speaker
um I'm going to start with kind of getting to know your history. I know you grew up in Lagos, but spent some time maybe in the north. Tell us about that time, that period in your life.
Stephanie's Early Life in Nigeria
00:01:41
Speaker
Yeah. So, well, first of all, thank you. Thank you for inviting me to be part of your podcast. I'm a big fan of the work that Owim does and and followed it for years. So congratulations to you.
00:01:54
Speaker
And yeah, thanks for being patient with the tech issues. You know how we roll. But yeah, so my childhood. Yes, yes, snipper and all that.
00:02:05
Speaker
Exactly, exactly. We'll get there. um So I was born in Lagos in late 70s. And I remember kind of very happy-go-lucky middle-class existence. You know, parents had good jobs. You know, they were not fabulously wealthy, but we lived a comfortable life.
00:02:25
Speaker
And I was born in Lagos, like I said, but we moved to the north of the country. moved to Jos soon after I was born. And my brother was actually born in Jos.
00:02:36
Speaker
And after that, my dad's job took him to Cano. And so I'm very familiar with the northern parts of the country. And I have very fond memories of growing up in that part of the ah parts of the country.
Migration to London and Identity
00:02:51
Speaker
But then after a while, we then moved back to Lagos and in the late 80s, about 1986, if I remember correctly. And I also went to boarding school briefly in that period.
00:03:08
Speaker
And I think I was in boarding school for two years in the 1980s when my parents decided to move to London.
00:03:20
Speaker
They were part of the the kind of 80s wave of the Jakba, the Nigerian phenomenon, and immigration phenomenon, which many people think just started now, but obviously, migration, immigration has been part of this country's history for many years.
00:03:39
Speaker
And I even remember at the time that there was a TV advert asking, there was a young man called Andrew in advert, said, Andrew, don't check out, you know,
00:03:50
Speaker
So, it's not a new thing.
Shaping a Journalism Career: London Years
00:03:53
Speaker
and you It's part of the human condition to seek new horizons and, you know, try to get exposure to different climates and different climes, etc. So my parents thought there would be a way for five years or at the most because, yeah.
00:04:15
Speaker
ahll let you I'll let you jump in. So I'm really interested in what you said about living in the North for a bit. We have that in common because, I mean, not so early on, but when I moved to Nigeria in the ah early 2000s, I actually went to University of Medjugorje.
00:04:33
Speaker
So I have some expenses in the North as well. What was life like growing up in the North during that period? you know You know, one thing that I really remember is the food, actually. Yeah.
00:04:46
Speaker
sweets you know like these sweets like um sugared sweets and um like I had baobab powder the other day and I just had such a wave of nostalgia because the powder like remember we used to like dip our fingers in a bag and like just lick the powder from the baobab tree and You know, the food in the north is actually very, very good.
00:05:11
Speaker
um I wish more people would be exposed to it. yeah Yeah. Interestingly, masa, I don't know if you had masa, and I'm pretty sure you've had masa.
Early Career and Mentorship
00:05:21
Speaker
Yeah, I love masa. But every time I was pregnant and with my kids,
00:05:26
Speaker
I would be craving masa. And actually for my, I think my both my second and my third child, that's how I knew i was pregnant and because of masa. So interesting. san kind Yeah, I mean, food is definitely something that I, you know, I miss about the North.
00:05:42
Speaker
Yeah, so continue telling us what it was like growing up there. And for yeah so you also, how shaped you became. So I remember Joss being very cold, you know, and people don't often think about that. Like Joss has a very, very kind of mild temperature, temperature you know, very cold. And we to have these big blankets that we still had.
00:06:05
Speaker
We took with us when we travelled from Lagos to London. We took this huge blanket with us. I don't know why, but, you know, just remember that we took that.
00:06:16
Speaker
But yeah, you know, it was a nice, comfortable childhood. Like I said, you know, this was before the insecurity that started. Because now, when i but I read about that insecurity, it just feels like such a foreign place, you know, like we we lived in harmony with our neighbours, like So in Kanu, we lived in a district, I think, which is kind of low for having a lot of questions.
00:06:47
Speaker
But we lived side by side from what I remembered with our neighbors. You know, there was no conflict. But then in later years, um there those conflicts started to happen. But some yeah, you know, the North, I have very, very fond memories of.
00:07:02
Speaker
And actually, according to my parents, I learned to speak Housa quite fluently. Unfortunately, I've um forgotten many many of their vocabulary but I surprise myself when someone's speaking i can pick up words like abinchi and macaranta and you know menene sunanki menene sunanka like these are words that I remember obviously from like muscle memory but I can't speak the language anymore it's fascinating to
00:07:34
Speaker
Yeah, it is. And it's it's interesting. Did you feel a sense of affiliation with the North? Because, I mean, later on, we'll talk about your work around the Chippock Girls and things. But i just wonder how foundational and was was your time at um in the North to kind of the kind of things they went on to do?
00:07:54
Speaker
To be honest, you know, i didn't feel that it was a Northern thing or whatever. I just felt like I was a Nigerian. Yeah, absolutely. I was obviously a Yoruba girl being brought up in the North, but I have an affinity with the country, with the oneness and the unity of the country. that That is something that I really expand. I really think that I have cultural pride in my Yoruba heritage.
00:08:24
Speaker
but also as my Nigerian identity is actually quite important to me. So it was never in in my mind, i mean, I was very young, but I don't remember feeling like I'm not from here.
00:08:39
Speaker
You know, it was just, this is where I live. I'm a Nigerian girl, this is where i live, you know. And I love that about, you know, part of what I, you know, I've traveled a lot.
00:08:51
Speaker
And i I like to, ah so assimilate cultures. i like to learn languages, i like to find out about people's cultures, that's something that's just innate in me.
Balancing Career and Motherhood
00:09:05
Speaker
And so it's not a surprise that I became a journalist because of that curiosity ah about people about life, but their stories, and telling their stories.
00:09:16
Speaker
So yeah, I would say, probably quite foundational, but just maybe a part of who I am. Absolutely. And of course you you then moved to and the UK as you said, and I think you know this this discussion about um identity and how we see ourselves as Nigerians is quite an important one.
00:09:34
Speaker
And especially one I often get get into with with my Nigeria based friends, right? Because I'm in the diaspora, I'm in the Nigerian diaspora. I've spent more of my life in the UK than I have in Nigeria.
00:09:47
Speaker
And therefore I see myself as a Nigerian, you know? And I remember having this conversation with some friends who are Igbo and I was like, but I see myself as, and they were so surprised by that. The fact that I see myself as Nigerians.
00:10:00
Speaker
I think that is to do with that diasporic kind of identity that we we both share. What are your thoughts around that sense of identity? Yeah, well, I mean, you know, everybody's allowed to shape and define their identity in how they want to, you know, it's a fundamental human right.
00:10:18
Speaker
But I think also you have to look at the context of the Igbo tribe in Nigeria. Yes, i think when you consider that context, it's not surprising that many people cling to the Igbo identity very tightly just because of the difficult past.
00:10:39
Speaker
that Nigeria has with the civil war, the Biafra movement and all of that. So and that within that context, it's not it's not surprising.
00:10:50
Speaker
And I actually you remember having the same conversation with a someone who was in an Abel tribe and and they were very adamant that they were Abel first before Nigerian. And I found it surprising at the time, but looking back, I think that, you know,
00:11:08
Speaker
given the historical context and the terrible um kind of like suffering that they have faced. It's not surprising.
00:11:18
Speaker
Yeah. Absolutely. So how old were when you moved to London? I was 12. I was
Leading CNN Nigeria and Digital Journalism
00:11:24
Speaker
12 and I was just becoming a teenager. So it was quite a tricky time. I mean, gosh, you know, being a teenager in London versus being a teenager 80s Nigeria, extremely different.
00:11:38
Speaker
um you know i was I was very bookish. I was very bookish and very like, so coming from school in Lagos in Nigeria and I was also in school in Oregon State. So I've lived in several different states.
00:11:54
Speaker
And the attitude to education was you have to be the best. yeah And I remember in my secondary school, first form, it was always me and two other boys.
00:12:08
Speaker
that were like, always like first, second, third, second, I would come first and they would come second, third, I would come third, they would you know, it was just us three. And so I was brought up with this competition around academics and do your best and, and buy to be the best.
00:12:25
Speaker
It was total contrast when I went to London because we went to, uh, a kind of inner city comprehensive and, you know,
00:12:39
Speaker
ah it was not the same. there was a lot of and other students who were not interested in learning. They were not interested in, you know, like the learning was not cool.
00:12:50
Speaker
Yes. Being academic was not cool. Raising your hand in class was not cool. And, you know, so it was kind of like, oh my God, she's a teacher's pet. She's a goody goody.
00:13:01
Speaker
And so I got a lot of names and I was bullied actually. And this was a time when being African was not cool. So, you know, Africa, people all of those, you know, very insults that you got.
00:13:14
Speaker
So
Chibok Girls Reporting
00:13:15
Speaker
definitely, you know, it was a difficult transition. um And it was difficult transition going to inner city London, where, you know, there's social socioeconomic issues. There's kind of like, you know, and lot of societal kind of ills that you have to navigate.
00:13:38
Speaker
of course, I didn't understand that at the time. i just saw that, like, people who look like me were bullying me, you know. So, yeah, i was um I was unhappy because I thought London was going to be like streets paved with gold, you know.
00:13:58
Speaker
And then we were just like... The general misconception. Right. so You know, everybody, oh, my God, you're going to London. And I thought, like, I won the lottery in line. I mean, it don't get me wrong, being in the UK was very beneficial.
00:14:12
Speaker
I got a good education. I went to university in a in the UK. And, you know, most of my formative years were spent in the UK. So I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the UK in forming and shaping who I was, who I became ah as a person, but also also to Nigeria. you know i I'm a British Nigerian, and very proudly so.
00:14:41
Speaker
um and but um i mean Let me just pause you there because I think you can be both grateful yes and also still have your lived experiences that were quite hurtful. Of course. And that shapes you.
00:14:55
Speaker
I think you see a lot of that in in different levels, even when you have a mentor. or somebody who's your your your your sponsor, so to speak, in a place who you can be both grateful to, but also recognize that they are benefit, they are also part of the problem.
00:15:12
Speaker
Oh yeah, for sure. right For sure. Yeah. I mean, definitely confronted a lot of prejudice and discrimination. Yeah. I think most black people have that lived experience in the UK, being followed in the shops and, you know,
00:15:32
Speaker
But London by and large is very cosmopolitan. Although people have their pockets, like there's quite a lot of segregation. you know i don't think there's a lot of mixing.
00:15:43
Speaker
When I was growing up anyway, there was not a lot of mixing, even though London was very cosmopolitan, attracted lots of different people from all nationalities. Everyone stayed in their pockets, everyone stayed with their groups, which may in itself, i suppose is not a bad thing.
00:15:59
Speaker
So you moved to London when you were 12, and obviously that had you know had both positive and negative impacts in terms of like cultural identity, in terms of expectations, and in terms of your own lived experience as a black woman in this and space that you kind of expected a lot from.
00:16:18
Speaker
How would you see all of those formative years ah in the North, in the South, in Nigeria, and you know all of that, how did that contribute to, or did it have any and impacting your path towards journalism?
00:16:34
Speaker
Well, I think that for me, my journalism career, it's just quite innate. I just have a natural curiosity.
00:16:45
Speaker
I love writing. i love people and I love talking to people. I love finding out about their stories. So maybe maybe those experiences did shape that in a way, but I just think it's quite innate. It's something that I discovered very early on. I was lucky through, um you know, encouragement from one of my secondary school teachers.
Challenges and Self-Care in Journalism
00:17:08
Speaker
I was fortunate to have discovered that at that young, what I wanted to do, you know, so that's why I think it's quite innate and that, you know, I would even go as far as to say it's a calling, yeah you know, it's something that I was born to do is to document, and to tell stories, to, to, um, to be a chronicler for our times, you know, that's, that is my, that is my calling. Yeah.
00:17:36
Speaker
And am I right in saying that your first kind of experience in journalism was the Daily Mirror? Is that correct? Well, before that, um, so my very, very, very first ever byline was, um,
00:17:50
Speaker
the York Evening Press. Wow. I know, yeah. So I went to university in Leeds and ah ah part part of my course, you had to do this, what we call an attachment, six week attachment to industry.
00:18:06
Speaker
And i was fortunate to get a job for those six weeks on the York Evening Press. So I would commute between York and Leeds at that time.
00:18:18
Speaker
I think I was in my second second year of uni and um it was fantastic. you know I was just like in my element, I loved every moment of it.
00:18:29
Speaker
And on my first day, it was ah fire broken out and I think someone died in a fire, know of tragic story. And I went with the chief correspondent, the chief reporter, and I was like knocking on doors, what what happened? you know just being the cub reporter, was very enthusiastic.
00:18:51
Speaker
And so the chief reporter was so pleased, I guess, with what I did, that he put my name on a byline so that on the first day ever um um in a journalism, in a newspaper, in newsroom, I got a front page byline. I was like, oh my God. you know I was just over the moon. I was so elated.
00:19:14
Speaker
and you know i did... really some solid reporting work on the Evening Press in York. And it was
Vision for Future Journalists
00:19:21
Speaker
it's good. It's good grounding for a journalist. And it's grounding that a lot of people don't get anymore. you know It's what we call good old-fashioned shoe leather journalism.
00:19:32
Speaker
but yeah out yeah you know Yeah, absolutely. But then also it was an internship. and And I think we're we're kind of having different perspectives on the importance of the of internships now. and in media, what are your thoughts in terms of kind of how these early stage engagement with with the the with the industry through internships can really benefit you towards a flourishing career? career Well, in my view, it's invaluable.
00:20:04
Speaker
It's invaluable. Just the fact that you're able to go and experience what it's like. With that commitment, you know you don't have to commit your yourself to it.
00:20:17
Speaker
When I did it, it was unpaid. So I'm not even sure if they paid for my transport, to be honest, now a but I But I felt so privileged to be doing it.
00:20:28
Speaker
I was learning. And, you know, the good thing about internships is that when they're good, when they're well structured, when they're, you know, when they're intentional,
00:20:41
Speaker
You can get such a lot out of it. I remember, you know, that chief reporter did not have to give me a byline, but because he was trying to help a young person come up, he was like, no, she did the work. Never never have a byline on um the front page. that's yeah That's like, you know, the most valuable real estate in a newspaper.
00:21:02
Speaker
um But, you know, they also were invested in seeing me succeed. So they would always like, you know, I could go and ask them questions. They would ask if i wanted to go on jobs with them. They would ask if I wanted to, you know, watch them do certain things. So it was just such a learning experience for me. I just soaked everything up.
00:21:22
Speaker
And that's everything to do with your attitude. It's everything to do with how you present. It's everything to do with how um enthusiastic and willing you are to learn.
00:21:33
Speaker
So when you when you show that, people people do show up for you and because they remember most often, more often than not, when they were starting out and the opportunities that they were given.
00:21:45
Speaker
So mentorship and internship is so important to me. You know, for example, when I came to Nigeria nine years ago with CNN, I set up our first internship in Nigeria for CNN, because it was just such a something that I thought was so valuable.
00:22:04
Speaker
And also when I was in London, prior to coming to Nigeria. I ran our department's internship scheme. I oversaw that. i And then, you know, at at one point, I looked around the newsroom and I realized that I had recruited more than half of the people that were now doing so well in their careers at CNN at the time. i had recruited more than half of them.
00:22:30
Speaker
So it was something I felt very proud of. And It wasn't just at recruiting. i poured into them. I mentored and coached them. you know So i um it's something that's extremely valuable.
00:22:44
Speaker
What's not valuable is the exploitation of interns. And I remember also advocating for interns to be paid while at CNN because there was a point where interns were not paid.
00:22:57
Speaker
And it meant
Conclusion: Journalistic Integrity and Engagement
00:22:58
Speaker
that we attracted just a certain type of interns who could afford to work unpaid. It was not a diversity of experience in terms of class or, you know, like socioeconomic backgrounds.
00:23:12
Speaker
So it's it's important that internships are structured, intentional and no more importantly, paid. You might not get paid the big bucks because you're actually learning and you are a bit of a drain on resources because people are having to tell you what to do.
00:23:32
Speaker
and they're having to invest in teaching you while you know you're learning on the job. So you don't expect to get a big box, but at least give them a living way, something to cover their expenses.
00:23:46
Speaker
And you know, actually one person that I wanted to shout out because of just the enormous impact that he had on me and other interns when I i was at CNN is Richard Quest.
00:24:00
Speaker
Richard Quest is one of the best known faces on CNN, bar none, perhaps. And he did not have to give his time, but he would set up afternoon sessions, lunchtime sessions just for interns.
00:24:17
Speaker
And he would he would take that on himself to teach and mentor the next generation of journalists. No, like management didn't ask him to do it. He just said, come on, go over here, you know, you know in his richest way. And he would just gather them and he would pour his knowledge into them.
00:24:37
Speaker
The first ever moderation gig I did was at Oxford African University. They asked me to moderate a panel and there was going to be a president on the panel. And of course I said, yes, yes, I can do it.
00:24:52
Speaker
I'd never done it. The first person I went to was Richard. And Richard said, oh, well come come over here, you know. took me to sit on the guest sofa in the London Bureau. And, you know, he he said to me, this is how you do it.
00:25:09
Speaker
You never sit in the middle. You never turn your back on the guest. You know, he just gave me so many fantastic tips that, you know, just really I remember to this day. So good mentors, good st structured internships will always stick with you. So I absolutely encourage it.
00:25:28
Speaker
Hey there, something really exciting is coming up. It's the African Women in Media 2025 conference. We are bringing together journalists, editors, media leaders, policy makers, academics, creative, the tech community, investors from ah across the world convening on the 4th and 5th of December 2025 at the African Union Commission building in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia under the theme of Beyond Commitments, advancing policies for gender-safe media. You'll expect to have powerful keynote sessions.
00:26:04
Speaker
hands-on workshops, exhibitions, important networking opportunities. And through the AWIM pitch zone, which we are reintroducing this year, you'll have the opportunity to meet with media development funds and pitch to them your media business ideas. Tickets are now on sale. It's a great time to secure your spots. To find out more, go to AWIM25, that's A-W-I-M 25, dot Africanwomeninmedia.com. Join us at the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on the 4th and 5th of December for the African Women in Media 2025 conference. You don't want to miss it.
00:26:46
Speaker
It's so interesting, the story you just told, because I don't know if you know this, but I interned at CNN. I think I missed you by a year. I think you came into CNN a year after I'd finished at CNN. I couldn't know that. And I interned on Richard Quest's show.
00:27:02
Speaker
Oh, amazing. I did not know that. So everything, yeah, everything just said about Richard Quest, I absolutely agree because that was the experience I had with him. I remember he was, ah I remember it was this Quest on Quest show and I remember there was an episode I worked on where he was ah interviewing, who was this guy that likes to do like extreme like adventure, can't remember his name anyway, so he was, he was going to be interviewing him.
00:27:28
Speaker
No, he's not so funny. I'm trying to remember before we forget. No, no, it's not him. and But yes, I remember I'd done my research notes and the producer sent it to him. was on the plane when he got it and he text back some excellent notes and da-da-da-da-da-da. He was so happy.
00:27:44
Speaker
And when he came back, um he actually invited me to his office and we talked through, you know, i asked him for tips and presents. know, it was so welcoming and so open and so approachable. So I absolutely agree.
00:27:56
Speaker
And I think for years after I finished at CNN, I would email him once in a while just say, oh, this is what's happening. And he would reply. you know yeah So so that kind of that kind of what you said is so absolutely absolutely and correct. And I think that level of oh accessibility to leadership, it's so it's so important um as well.
00:28:17
Speaker
And I mean, you went on to have a trailblazing career from print digital. leading CNN's first digital and multi-platform bureau in Nigeria. What moments would you say stood out as defining in your leadership journey?
00:28:32
Speaker
Oh, wow. Gosh, there's been so many. i mean, just even coming to Lagos to start up this bureau from scratch for to and then report and edit and and do everything that I had to do.
00:28:46
Speaker
You know, it's it's well known within CNN that I was just this one woman bureau and with very few resources, but we managed to make amazing things happen. So some stand up moments for me is obviously like the chip off reporting, which I think has come to define my career and has won me like many awards, including a Peabody Award, a Gracie Award and and many others, um you know, but it's not for the accolades.
00:29:13
Speaker
The Chibok reporting is a story that I've tried to walk away from many times because I've just said, okay, like even someone even told me, you don't want to get known as that Chibok girl, you know, but it's a blight a bli on this country's conscience that we're gonna and we're gonna come back to the cheaper we're going to come back to the Chibot girls, I think it's such an important story and period in your career, but also as as a journalist in that space. And again,
00:29:45
Speaker
Like i said, i and I went to university with my degree. So that but that part of Nigeria is also really important to me. Well, before we get there, I want to ask you about that process of coming from London to Nigeria. I don't know whether you've been staying long term in Nigeria since you moved to the UK. So that transition, that migration back to Nigeria.
00:30:05
Speaker
So there's that aspect that you're dealing with. but I'm also setting up this bureau and it's you doing it. Like, just talk us through that. And how did it come about? And, you know, what was the experience doing that?
00:30:16
Speaker
So, I mean, i think it came about because I put my hand up actually. So before that, 2012, I'd covered Occupy Nigeria. I'd covered Occupy Nigeria remotely.
00:30:28
Speaker
And I'd done something, you know, internally that everybody was like, oh, wow, this is so, important. Like we love this reporting, we love, you know, whatever.
00:30:38
Speaker
And at that time, I didn't think that CNN had a correspondent in Nigeria. And I was working on digital. I was working on digital. And I now wrote to one of the bosses and I said, and i put my hat in the brain and said, this is my background.
00:30:57
Speaker
I'd met that person once. This was like senior exec. And I said, this is me. I want to go and work in Nigeria. want to be your correspondent there because i I see that you don't have anyone there. And these stories are so important. We have to cover them.
00:31:11
Speaker
And as you can see, we've got such traction. The importance of putting your hand up and saying, I'm here because that person, I suddenly went on their radar. um I didn't get that role then because frankly, I was not qualified to do it. You know, I'd never done any TV work, but what it,
00:31:31
Speaker
allowed me to do was to become almost like a Nigerian specialist within the organization. And so when an opportunity came that they, there was another vacancy in Lagos, they now created a role where a digital person, but someone who didn't, wasn't traditionally from a new, a TV news background could go in, run the first digital bureau for the organization anywhere in the world.
00:31:59
Speaker
and also become the first responder when there's a breaking news story on air. Like no one else was doing that role within the organization. It was such a pioneering role.
00:32:12
Speaker
And there were lots of a lot of mistakes, a lot of things that I would do differently now. i was trying to do so many things at once.
00:32:23
Speaker
I was so overly ambitious for that role that I was really trying to um just be like almost like a martyr you know but I think we managed to recruit an amazing team of journalists um you know and I was very very determined that there would be Nigerian journalists I want African people telling African stories you know just because of the context and nuance that they can bring to to the storytelling and the reporting.
00:32:55
Speaker
And there's people like Bukola Adebayo, who now works at Reuters, who was came to us from punch, you know, and she she kind of was at the cold phase of of what we were doing.
00:33:07
Speaker
There's people like, um Aisha Salawadun, who is very bright, very talented journalist who joined us. um Anu Adorye, who's now at the FT as their West African correspondent, was one of our first interns.
00:33:23
Speaker
So, you know, it was just like... I managed to, through guts and and, you know, the the blood and the sweat and the tears, managed to assemble quite a really lovely team of journalists who were ambitious, who wanted to tell really great stories.
00:33:41
Speaker
But, you know, we didn't have enormous amounts of resources to do it. So, know, we managed to tell great stories. So one of Bukhola's stories was...
00:33:54
Speaker
the story of a girl who recorded her um lecturer soliciting sex for grades. She was very brave. Monica Osadier, very brave girl. She recorded it. She gave CNN the only interview.
00:34:10
Speaker
And after reporting, this lecturer was jailed. It was prosecuted and jailed. Unprecedented. yeah And, you know, it's, we, you know, we we were so happy to be able to, be like,
00:34:24
Speaker
be a part of change in such a ridiculous case of abuse of power, right? And even the Senate, the Nigerian Senate,
00:34:35
Speaker
asked questions like and, you know, change certain elements of the law because of that reporting. So very proud moment there. We also identified the first Nigerian Me Too cases, you know, women who spoke out openly about their stories of sexual assault, of rape, of, you know, just it was part of that whole global Me Too wave. And you know we we were able to speak to those women and and convince them to share their stories.
00:35:07
Speaker
um And of course, NSARS, you know, our reporting on NSARS, which was nominated for two Emmy Awards and was, you know, upheld by the Nigerian Judicial, the Lagos State Judicial Review, that that there was shooting of of protesters, unarmed protesters.
00:35:28
Speaker
So, you know, like there's been so many defining moments in this role, but beyond the reporting, it was just creating this Bureau from scratch and bringing in on these bright young talents and giving them opportunities that with an international broadcaster that they would never have had otherwise, you know, and seeing their trajectory just makes me so happy.
00:35:52
Speaker
We didn't always get it right, but, you know, for the most part, I am so proud of the work that I did in my nine years at the Bureau. Absolutely.
00:36:03
Speaker
And, you know, as we know women in media leadership, you know, talk less of ownership still remains largely underrepresented globally, not just Nigeria, not just Africa, globally. yeah And I'm just listening to your story there because you're doing it in number of things. And I hope you realize that, you know, that you realize what you achieved there.
00:36:20
Speaker
Number one, like I said, you put your hand up, right? and Number two, you came back, you immigrated back to Nigeria. So you're dealing with that kind of transition also. Number three, i mean, you said you to have a lot of resources. You're having to build this new innovative thing from scratch with very little resources.
00:36:37
Speaker
And at the same time, all those names you're mentioning are people that you were mentoring, you were taking through the process and you yourself are probably also just still learning on the job as well, right? So when you reflect on that journey, and how would you say you navigated those challenges and the barriers and how did you face them? um If you can take us back to back then.
00:37:00
Speaker
Gosh, you know, um there were a lot of challenging moments, just even um being a woman in that role. I remember, so we had one intern, another very bright young man who came from the UK and he's British.
00:37:20
Speaker
And, you know, sometimes going to meetings and people addressing him because they think he's my boss. You know, right. But he's an intern.
00:37:31
Speaker
And, you know, he never did anything to encourage it, but to simply be being ah white young man, ah white man automatically meant that he was perceived to be the leader and not me, who was the leader.
00:37:46
Speaker
And, you know, there were those kind of like internal biases that you had to navigate. Just the inherent, you know,
00:37:58
Speaker
I had to navigate just the resources issue, you know, having to be the producer, be the ah correspondent, be the leader of the Bureau, you know, it was such a huge, huge kind of, it took a toll on my time, at times my mental health, because I was doing so much.
00:38:21
Speaker
um You know, but that's why I said I was being a martyr because I didn't have to do all of those things. But I, you know, I have just like this kind of very, very strong determination, like i wanted to make it succeed.
00:38:34
Speaker
Could I have put my hand up and ask for help? Earlier? Yes, most certainly. So that that is a big takeaway, ask for help. And you know, I was working remotely, my bosses have no idea of the challenges you have to navigate with the traffic and the yeah lack of infrastructure and all of those things. and even the internet. So you're joining morning meetings and you're dropping off calls and they're just like, Oh, what's going on? Like, oh, Lagos, like what's happening?
00:39:01
Speaker
You know, but it's, it's just a different set of, um, uh, challenges that they have no concept of. In the end, I had to say to one of my bosses, I need you to come to Lagos. I need you to come and see what we are facing here.
00:39:17
Speaker
Um, you know, um she did, she did. she was one of the best bosses that i I've had and then Blahn it. um And she, she came and she saw the challenges and together, we kind of worked through, like, how do we, how do we navigate this and make sure that you have the support you need and, you know, then you can deliver what you need to.
00:39:41
Speaker
Because my primary role was editing the digital side, editing digital CNN Africa digital. But at the same time, you have this other demanding role where I became the de facto correspondent.
00:39:57
Speaker
You know, i was meant to be a first responder for TV, but I was getting like on the TV side, I was also getting demands for live hits. And, you know, so at some point you just kind of have to go, oh my goodness, you know, how do I do all of these things?
00:40:14
Speaker
and then you're managing a team on top of that. so you know when I look back, I'm like, wow, you really did do all of those things alone.
00:40:27
Speaker
And you know with very little support because I didn't ask for support. So that's one thing I would always say, don't be a martyr, ask for support.
00:40:37
Speaker
And sometimes you just got to let things break yeah because if you're extremely capable, if you're extremely careful, they will just keep piling on the work. But if you just like let things break, they'll just like, oh my God, we need to get, we need to get legal support. We need to because like something broke and it's gotta be fixed.
00:40:57
Speaker
And that's when they realized that, well, actually that we, we've gotta, we've gotta step up here, you know? So reflecting that that those would be my takeaways, uh, ask for help, don't be a martyr.
00:41:11
Speaker
prioritise, you know, I could have just said, this is all what you know, I've been asked which one should I do? Which one should I do out of all these things that you're asking me to do?
00:41:24
Speaker
You know, but I just took it on. I just took more and more and more. So my health suffered, my my family life definitely suffered ah some point, you know.
00:41:35
Speaker
um And so, yeah, you know, I think i i I was the first Nigerian and the first woman, you know, to lead a CNN bureau anywhere in the world. So I think I felt that pressure of, I've got to make this work. I've got to make this work. You know, I've got to succeed. um You know, but even if I'd just done a tenth of what I did, we would still have been very successful, you know.
00:42:05
Speaker
Absolutely. You said that your family life was impacted. How was it impacted? Well, so I, my, my, I was a single mom at the time. and my daughter was five, you know, when we came to the UK out to, from the UK.
00:42:22
Speaker
And so, you know, there were many late nights. Luckily I had relatives staying with me, trusted relatives, but there were many late nights in the office.
00:42:34
Speaker
where I wouldn't see her, like, you know, apart from in the morning when, like, I tried to do the school run, whatever. But and in some some of those years, you know, my family life, like my daughter's kind of, my time with my daughter did suffer, for sure, you know.
00:42:54
Speaker
And I look back on that with some regret, you know, because they're not that age for very long, you know. and they need you. So, yeah. as As somebody who's gone through the leadership process, as media leader yourself now, imagine now you are leading an organization where a new Stephanie Busari is going through that.
00:43:22
Speaker
As a leader, what would you do differently? Like, be not not as a person, but as a person, like putting this this other person in that position. Yeah, a whole lot more. a whole lot more support and a lot more clarity around the roles.
00:43:37
Speaker
So because I was doing like three things in one role, was like being a TV correspondent, I was editing the digital channel and I was also managing a team. I would put a lot more processes and clarity around the roles and expectations.
00:43:55
Speaker
I would put that in so that that person knows that actually, you know, this is what you're expected to do. You know, so in terms of that, and then I kind of suffered a little bit because there were change in management structures when I was going and there's some things that I'd been told that was going to do. And when I got there, things shifted a little bit.
00:44:20
Speaker
So just, you know, um i think being clear about expectations, offering more support, you know, and not because news is such a fast paced game and everybody's just like in a, in a go, go motion.
00:44:41
Speaker
and so there's not much time for reflection in terms of what do we, what do you need? What do I, you know so building that reflection time in is critical for anybody who's leading, you know, um,
00:44:57
Speaker
Building in the reflection time, building in the time to say, okay, here's feedback. I, you know, you did this, we we like this, but we don't want you to do this, or we want you to do more of this.
00:45:10
Speaker
You know, definitely all of those things would be would be something that I would and put into place. Yeah, yeah. So the Chipbot Girls, and like you said, it's it's it's a story that you've come to be defined as, i defined for as well.
00:45:28
Speaker
and And you got the proof of life ah video. So I really want to like sit in that moment with you, like that very moment when you realize what you got in your hands.
00:45:40
Speaker
take us Take it from there.
00:45:44
Speaker
So, I mean, I got the proof of life video two years after the kidnapping. Um, because I'd covered it. I'd made all these contacts. i so I was still living in London at the time 2014 when the kidnapping happened. yeah We came to Nigeria, we covered it for like two or three weeks.
00:46:02
Speaker
We went back, but I stayed in touch with people. I stayed in touch. I, you know, some of the parents were calling me and messaging me like, oh, you know, so they had this initial rush where the whole world's media came to their doorstep and everybody wanted to talk to them.
00:46:23
Speaker
We talked to a few of them, but after that, it was just silence. And they're now left to like grapple with this new reality of Well, okay, so we thought all of that attention was gonna bring our daughters back.
00:46:36
Speaker
So I got the proof of life video in 2016, two years after the but kidnapping and everyone had moved on and you know I had kept in touch with the parents and and a few other people, NGOs and people involved in this story.
00:46:55
Speaker
And I got a call to say, there's a video. there's a video of the girls and I said, what? Because at this time we'd all kind of presume that they were like sold into slavery or, you know, presume the worst.
00:47:10
Speaker
They're killed in Boko Haram raids, whatever, you know. um And this at this point there's 219 girls still missing. None of them freed at all.
00:47:21
Speaker
And so huge, huge number, a huge number. Right. Yeah. um And so I met with with them and they sent me the video and they told me that the video was filmed on Christmas day.
00:47:38
Speaker
So many of the girls that were taken were Christians. So the video was filmed on Christmas day, the year before 2015.
00:47:48
Speaker
and And so I knew it was filmed on Christmas Day 2015 because when i i I was trying to find it, the metadata had saved the for the video on the 25th of December on my phone.
00:48:04
Speaker
And so that also just kind of corroborated what they told me. Anyway, so we took this to my bosses and they were just like, oh my God, oh my God, we have to verify this.
00:48:16
Speaker
Got a team together, Neymar Elbeke and Sebastian Noops, who's an excellent videographer. And of course, Neymar, everybody knows, is one of the kind of talented, um you know, investigative reporters of our time.
00:48:31
Speaker
And so we all went to Meduguri. and I was a producer on the shoot and I had to call the parents that I was in touch with and say, okay, do you know these names? Like the girls were saying their names. Do you know these names? We wanted to bring the parents of the girls as much as many as we could to identify the girls.
00:48:53
Speaker
Anyway, we got three or four of them. And then one of them was the women's leader who oversees the affairs of the um of the women, the Chibok women.
00:49:05
Speaker
Yanagalang, we're still friends to this day. So they came and I have never been on a more difficult reporting job as this story, you know, ah in 2016.
00:49:19
Speaker
twenty sixteen In Borno, we were in one of the hotels outside in Borno. We set up a laptop just like we're talking and- Meduguri.
00:49:31
Speaker
In Meduguri, yes. In Meduguri, yes. In Meduguri, yes. And they were sat around. Neymar was showing them the video on her laptop. Do you know these girls? Can you verify that this video is true?
00:49:44
Speaker
And these women just dissolved into tears immediately. They were just like, oh my God, that's my daughter. you know And they could see that these were the girls that had been missing for two years that nobody knew anything about.
00:50:01
Speaker
And it was such a poignant, powerful, and just one of the most moving things I've ever experienced in my journey as a as a journalist.
00:50:15
Speaker
you know And one of the moms told me after but if she could have gone into the laptop and removed her daughter, she would have done. And you know what that means. Your mom, yeah you know what that pain that she was talking about.
00:50:33
Speaker
And another harrowing moment came when Yana, Yana Galang, the women leader, who came to oversee, she was looking desperately on a video for her her daughter, Rivkatu.
00:50:46
Speaker
She was not there. And the the breakdown, the tears, the scream, I will never forget it. She looked and looked and looked and her daughter was not there.
00:51:00
Speaker
And Rivkatu is still not home, still missing. presume dad I don't know, but you know, Yana hopes that she's still alive. So, you know, that was that was the verification process.
00:51:14
Speaker
We had to go and say this is real. This video is real. And what happened next just ah beyond my expectations. So, we verified it. Nemo filed her report.
00:51:29
Speaker
You know, I did my producer role and got everything together and then I wrote a story for digital, for CNN Digital about the whole thing ah with one of our editors.
00:51:40
Speaker
And um the response was just phenomenal. Like this was two years, two years after the story captured the imagination of the world. Michelle Obama was holding a Bring Back Our Girls.
00:51:53
Speaker
You know, every celebrity was holding up, bring back our girls. You know, it really, for the first time, an African women were being advocated for in such a powerful way by the rest of the world.
00:52:09
Speaker
And so this story coincided with me moving to Nigeria. I hadn't moved to Nigeria by that point. This happened in April. April 2014 and by June I moved to Nigeria.
00:52:22
Speaker
And I remember one of the my fellow journalists from BBC, BBC journalists, saying to me, you've peaked. right Like, what what else are you going report from now on?
00:52:33
Speaker
I'm happy to say i don't think I peaked. I think that we went stronger and stronger. But, you know, so it was the story of the day. Like, they were telling me that their newsroom, everything that was on the front page, everything that had been prepared that day was just abandoned.
00:52:50
Speaker
Get that CNN video, get that reporting, you know, and they could do nothing apart from license it from CNN syndication teams.
00:53:02
Speaker
Because the story was done. The story was done and dusted. Like we had cleaned up the story. And it was just like, I love stories like that as a journalist. Like everybody just has to follow your reporting. You know, like there's nothing else they can do.
00:53:17
Speaker
So it was a big win journalistically. But what happened after the Nigerian government changed the administration. So Buhari had just been elected.
00:53:29
Speaker
and Jonathan had left. And so they kind of got kicked into gear, you know, to say, wow, you know, they're still alive. We must bring them.
00:53:39
Speaker
I don't know if they knew or not, but by this happened in April, april by October, 21 schoolgirls were freed after negotiation talks with Boko Haram.
00:53:53
Speaker
And Nigerian senator told me at the time that it was because of the video and the attention that the video got globally that spurred the Nigerian government into action.
00:54:06
Speaker
And there was one man i must shout out who has been there at the start of this. He's Barrister Zana. He lives in Maiduguri and he was the one that actually was the mediator between Red Cross. So the Red Cross being a neutral organization had the girls handed to them by Boko Haram and he went to get the girls.
00:54:32
Speaker
And guess what? Because of him, Boko Haram decided to free an extra girl. They said this one is for Barrister Zanna. It was supposed to be 20 girls freed.
00:54:44
Speaker
And they freed an extra girl because of him. i mean, he knows, he's known to them. he's He lives in that area. And the work he does in bringing peace is phenomenal.
00:54:55
Speaker
But anyway, that's a side note. So because of that video, and if I never do anything else in my life, I know that my reporting was it's so impactful in saving the lives of these girls. And then the next year, another 107 girls, I think came out.
00:55:21
Speaker
And then now we've had some girls come out here and there. But you know, that that was the extent of the Nigerian government negotiation. And of course, money changed hands. They say that it didn't. But we know that money always changes hands in in these situations.
00:55:36
Speaker
So yeah, they there you have the Chebok story. Yeah. And you know, there's there's a number of things you said that really stood out for me because firstly, you said at the beginning when this first happened, there was the whole world's eyes on these women, right? On this story.
00:55:51
Speaker
Michelle Obama's picture is very famous. Also, you had some of the celebrities that was kind of just jumping on the ride also. um And then all of a sudden, all goes quiet. And that's the end. Everybody's done their trending stuff. you know What keeps you going beyond the trend?
00:56:07
Speaker
Well, many things. Many things. you know Just forging that relationship with the parents. And like I said, they were bewildered. They really thought after this onslaught of media attention, this onslaught of People coming to our village, people like bringing us to Abuja, people bringing us here and their interviews, our daughters, they did it because not for fame, they wanted their daughters back.
00:56:34
Speaker
But then nothing came and then they would write to me and say, but why is no one talking to us? Why is no one talking about us? Why is no one, why does no one care about this story anymore?
00:56:46
Speaker
And I just felt a sense of obligation to keep caring about it. Even if I couldn't get get it onto the headlines, we had to find another story, another hook. So i do I would just reassure them. i would just pray with them sometimes, you know. So I had to, journalism, you're not bot, you know.
00:57:08
Speaker
You're dealing with some of the most tragic stories of our times. So you have to always place your humanity to the fore of your reporting.
00:57:20
Speaker
My humanity is always part of my reporting. So I had to relate with them on a human level and and make them understand that I can't do anything for you right now, but I understand and I empathize.
00:57:33
Speaker
And that's what ultimately landed me the proof of life video. And all of that impacts your mental health, right? You're you're so in it.
00:57:45
Speaker
ah you know I can only imagine how emotional, even the lady that didn't find her daughter on the video, I can only imagine what you were like as somebody following the story for so long as well, you know and so invested ah in it.
00:58:00
Speaker
And again, it's not just about Chibot Girls, it's also about NSARS and all the other kind of impact of stories that youve you you've worked on and that you, they cannot just end with that one report.
00:58:15
Speaker
yeah how you How do you protect your mental health while still, like you said, applying your humanity and not giving up? yeah It's tough. It's tough. And so CNN does help a lot.
00:58:29
Speaker
You know, they give you counseling sessions. You know, that's some something that's provided after tough reporting stories. And whenever you want to access it, they they give that they make that available. So that is very...
00:58:44
Speaker
commendable on on the organization's part. You know, you are given that support. But I don't know, you you kind of develop an internal mechanism that allows you to switch off.
00:58:58
Speaker
Because if you don't, you will you will be dragged down. So you develop this extra shell, extra layer, whatever it is, that allows you to detach yourself somewhat from the reporting, detach yourself You know, i get to go home and hug my daughter that little bit tighter.
00:59:17
Speaker
I get to go home and just, you know, look after myself and know that, ah okay, you know what, it's been a really tough day at the office, but so I must prioritize my self care. I don't do it well all the time, but I do like to um make sure that I'm well looked after mentally, you know, i My family is very important to me and spend time with them, relaxing, going out with friends, all all those things that help you um kind of like detach from what is ultimately a very tough job actually, you know?
00:59:52
Speaker
You're not working down the coal mines, but it's mentally draining. um So, yeah, it's prioritizing self-care and making sure that you really do it. So you've gone on a tremendous journey, right?
01:00:05
Speaker
Then you went to the UK, getting your foot into the door through internship. You spoke so passionately about kind of supporting younger generations um and then kind of taking that risk, put your hand up and see the journey has taken you. to report on some of the most impactful stories of our generation.
01:00:22
Speaker
So what hope do you have for the next generation of women leaders coming after you? What are you doing to clear the path for them? Yeah. So, well, I mean, after 16 years, 16 very impactful, very wonderful years, um you know, a place where I grew up as a journalist and I found my voice as a journalist.
01:00:45
Speaker
I did ah leave CNN and, you know, eights it's vina it's been a roller coaster. And one of the things I've done or I'm kind of working on in the aftermath is a storytelling academy, which will train and empower the next generation. I'm really proud passionate about that.
01:01:09
Speaker
um i I want to maintain journalistic standards and storytelling standards and I fear we're losing that every day. We're waging a battle with facts.
01:01:22
Speaker
Facts are non-negotiable. Facts are sacred. But we're we're fighting a losing battle where people present alternative facts or their own version of facts.
01:01:34
Speaker
Facts are facts. They are not negotiable. they are It's just, I can't believe we have to say it, but we yeah you know we're living in an era where we have to say it. But I have a responsibility to train the next generation to report in a factual way.
01:01:50
Speaker
You know, this the reporting that we did at CNN, many it has its many detractors, but it was rigorous. It was fact-based. It was solid. It was editorially like sound.
01:02:04
Speaker
It was checked and rechecked, you know. you You probably, you remember the role system where you had to defend line by line every single word that you wrote, you know, in in this kind of backstopping process, editorial process.
01:02:18
Speaker
So I really want to bring that rigor to especially African journalism. um It's critical because everybody talks about changing the narrative. Everybody talks about, um you know, depicting a different version of Africa.
01:02:35
Speaker
But we can't do that if people don't even know how to tell the stories. in the right way. It's not about sugarcoating. It's not about pretending that problems are not there.
01:02:49
Speaker
It's about balance and accuracy. Balance and accuracy will help us to put our leaders, you know, to hold them to account. But you you can't, you can't, you know, there's such chock shoddy journalism going on right now.
01:03:07
Speaker
and people conflate what journalism is. People conflate journalism and PR. um So I just feel that I have 25 years experience in this field.
01:03:19
Speaker
And it would be ah terrible waste if I did not impart some of what I learned in those 25 years with some of the world's best um media organizations.
01:03:33
Speaker
um You know, they may be accused of propaganda, they may be accused of whatever you you want to call it. But these institutions prioritise facts-based journalism.
01:03:48
Speaker
And that's what I want to create. I want to create an academy, ah training academy that prioritise facts-based journalism and storytelling, that prioritises the kind of storytelling that will serve us for the next generation who will tell our stories.
01:04:08
Speaker
I mean, my time as a storyteller, as a journalist has come to an end in in the form that I knew it. um I probably, you know, I don't never say never, but I don't see myself working in a newsroom again in the way that I did.
01:04:23
Speaker
i now have a media company called SBB Media. And, you know, it's strategic communications working also at high level with governments to tell their stories. There's so many things that governments are doing that nobody knows about because they're just not projecting or amplifying those things or they simply don't know how.
01:04:44
Speaker
So, you know, I just did some training with the first ladies of Nigeria. you know, they're also doing some great projects in their respective states, helping them to amplify that. So that's a strategic communications arm.
01:04:57
Speaker
We also have a publishing arm where I just published a book called Her Story, Taking Wings and Sparking Change. That's 40 women. who you know, again. was going to say it was really kind of all over our social media. It was such a fantastic project. Thank you. It was a labor of love. we did it in three months, but we got some wonderful women who shared their stories with us. They all contributed a chapter and said, I want to put my my story out there, my voice to count.
01:05:29
Speaker
And that's what I do. that's That's my passion. Like I said earlier, this is a calling for me. to document, to chronicle our time so that in future generations, people will say, these are the people from that time that mattered.
01:05:43
Speaker
These are the people who did, who made an impact, who created something worthwhile. You know, and I read something about in 100 years, all of us will be forgotten. yeah We will be forgotten.
01:05:56
Speaker
And how well you're remembered is on how well you document your time while you were here. ah u document Even with documenting, you have to be intentional about how you document.
01:06:08
Speaker
So I'm really passionate about making sure that women's stories are documented, that young Africans are equipped with the tools that they need to do that documenting properly.
01:06:22
Speaker
There's a lot of really great people doing really great things right now, but how factual is it? How balanced is it? How, you know, um like kind of what, you know, do they have the right tools to do that? And of course, AI is going to impact a lot of how we tell stories. And so I want to incorporate that in training as well.
01:06:47
Speaker
So there's a lot of work ahead. There's a lot of work ahead. I'm so excited. i've I've spent years, ah half a century, like a quarter of a century building other people's platforms.
01:07:00
Speaker
So now it's time for me to build my platform that will change the face of journalism on the continent. Absolutely. And if you had one thing that you want our listeners to take away from this interview today, would it be?
01:07:16
Speaker
yeah Well, just one thing. um Well, I would say put your hand up. Put your hand Excellent.
01:07:28
Speaker
And on that note, thank you so much, Stephanie Boussari, for joining me today. It's been such a pleasure and hearing your story and just hearing and that inside kind of experience and walking the journey with you. Thank you so much for your time. Wonderful. Thank you so much. I had a wonderful conversation with you. So thank you.
01:07:47
Speaker
Wow. What a conversation that was. Stephanie Boussari really reminds us that journalism is not just about the head the impact to truth and giving voice to the voiceless.
01:07:59
Speaker
It sounds cliche, but that's exactly what journalism is all about. So thank you for listening to this episode of Her Media Diary. And if you found this conversation inspiring, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review and share this episode with that person that really needs to hear it.
01:08:15
Speaker
If you'd like to join me on an episode of the podcast, you can drop me an email at yemisitia.africanwomeninmedia.com and you can also visit our podcast website, hermedia.com.
01:08:26
Speaker
Don't forget to hit that subscribe, hit that follow button on your favorite podcasting platform. And you can tune in to our radio partners across Africa.
01:08:39
Speaker
And don't forget join the conversation you using the hashtag Hermida Diary. So until next time, stay safe, stay curious, and keep amplifying these stories. that