Fareeda Abdulkareem
As seen in:
Quartz,
OZY,
Daily Trust,
TheCable,
YNaija,
Current Affairs,
This Is Africa (ZA),
Popula,
Music In Africa,
Brittle Paper
Covers:
film, culture, development
unicorn healing...again.
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
Intern at a state owned television network. I did not enjoy it.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
No
How is social media changing news?
Multimedia presentations, shorter deadlines, fake news proliferation, increase in diversity of stories, shift from hard news to opinion
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Everybody in Aaron Sorkin's The Newsroom
What does it mean to be a journalist?
To constantly be humbled by the varied human experience. To wear the responsibility of informing and inciting the necessary conversations.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
I wouldn't remember. Twitter never runs out of this sort of thing.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
I used to carry a notebook to jot ideas, but now I make voicenotes and texts on my smartphone. As for writing, MSword forever?
What's your favorite social network?
Twitter
Who do you wish followed you?
Solange, Matt Zoller Seitz, Emily Nussbaum, Angtonio Guterres
Why did you become a journalist?
A compulsion for learning and self expression.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
Yes I did. I was the opinions editor. I even had my investigative report on campus drug use censored by the administration.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
All of them. Even the terrible ones, which are not featured on my portfolio.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
You get used to the rejections. Celebrate the wins, no matter how small. Write and network with equal vigor.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
Getting to cover the Recontres D' Arles photo festival in the south of France. I took a bus from Berlin, but I have no regrets.
What's your favorite drink?
Water or a california cabernet
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Dancing, exercising, with friends lounging, reading
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
I don't have a favorite publication, but gun to my head, Brain Pickings, and essays from The Atlantic.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
That critics hate everything
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.