Uganda sports journalist, Faith Kiai, aspires to become an editor and venture into content production in broadcasting as her career continues to reach new heights.
Kiai’s passion for sport began in high school where she played her hand in several sporting codes, however she reveals that she could not break through the ranks.
She later ventured in writing to fuel her love for the game and has been working hard to lead the way as a woman in a male-dominated space.
In 2014, Kiai started out as a contributor for New Vision Uganda and went on to rise up the ranks to become staff writer and now a multimedia journalist.
She highlights 2021 Momentum gsport Awards Imperial African Woman in Sport winner, Usher Komugisha as one of the woman in sport media that she admires and draws inspiration from.
Speaking with Tatenda Gondo, Kiai speaks on Uganda’s support of women in sport and reveals what she loves most about her career.
Thank you, Faith, for taking time out to chat with us. Uganda recently qualified for the African Women’s Cup of Nations – how has the local media reacted to the team’s qualification for the continental showpiece?
Despite the nature of how the team qualified for the tournament, the reaction from the media has been good. It’s important to note that the Ugandan media has always tried to be supportive of women’s football thanks to the Federation of Uganda Football Association, which has been constantly collaborating with the media to ensure that media coverage of both men’s and women’s football is equal.
May you please tell us a brief history about yourself.
I am a print journalist but recently I have ventured into multi-media journalism, so I am also a broadcaster. In a nutshell, I would call myself a multi-media journalist.
When I was younger, I was a multi-talented athlete but I was never good enough to play in the big leagues. That competitive aspect of sport motivated me to take up a sporting role and luckily for me I always wanted to be a lawyer or a journalist. I ended up studying Mass Communication at Uganda Christian University.
After I completed my studies I worked at New Vision Uganda as a contributor and in 2018, I got a full-time job as a staff writer. I served in that capacity until 2021 when our roles were restructured. I predominantly was writing for the sport section but now I have ventured into other forms of journalism.
As a multimedia journalist, what is your typical day at work like?
It is a fast-paced day, I am at the office by eight and ready for our daily editorial meetings at nine. During the meetings, we generate story ideas for the day and future editions. After the meetings I work on my assignments either on the ground or in the office, by mid-day I will be done with all my tasks. And after that, I start drafting content ideas to work on for the next day.
What is the best thing about your job?
When I got into sport journalism, I always wanted to be a female voice in a section of the profession that was not so receptive to women and femininity. This is what attracted me to pursue sport journalism.
Back to your question, the best thing about my job is that I can give people a different perceptive of what journalism is for a woman covering a male-dominated field. Each time I get to write about sport it gives me joy to know that there are young girls who are looking at my work and are inspired.
What is most challenging about working in sport?
Athletes assume that I do not understand their sporting discipline. I have attended several press conferences and I always get disappointed when an athlete assumes that I do not know the technical aspects of the sport they participate in. I always make an effort to learn about as many sporting disciplines as possible just so I can do my best.
Which woman sport journalist do you look up to?
I look up to Usher Komugisha – I always admire how she has grown to become a brand in the last five years. When I look at Usher I feel like something is going right for women’s sport. Coincidentally, she is very humble and has a very good work ethic.
Looking back at the last five years, has the coverage of women’s sport in print changed?
Better than okay, I think it is not at the very best. When I started out reporting we had a page every Wednesday that was called the women’s page, every story related to women’s sport that we would have written would be published on Wednesday. It was not exclusive that all women’s stories had to be on the women’s page but this was one of the ways we used to drive women’s sport coverage.
In the last five years, this has changed because we have normalised writing about women’s sport in print and the stories are now more prevalent in the paper.
What progress do women still need to make in the field of sports journalism?
I believe in the power of numbers hence why we need more females in the field if there are more women, then the plight of female athletes will be highlighted more. We need to support websites that give support to women’s sport, journalists and sportswriters. We need to be innovative and start our own women’s sport podcasts, also we should be very consistent when it comes to reporting on women’s sport.
How receptive are sport fans to women sports journalists?
Here in Uganda sports fans are very receptive. I think that when they see women in sports journalism it is more like a phenomenon to them. People in this country are always happy to see women in the field of sport.
Where do you see yourself in the next few years?
I think I would like to evolve and become an editor. I want to venture more into content production as I think that in sport and broadcast there is a disconnect when it comes to content production, especially tailor-made for women audiences.
Photo 1 Caption: Uganda sports journalist, Faith Kiai, aspires to become an editor and venture into content production in broadcasting as her career continues to reach new heights. Photo: Supplied
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