JANE BABIRYE
(She/Her)
As seen in:
medRxiv
Covers:
News and Current affairs.
Profiles and Human interest.
Lifestyle and Culture.
Opinion and Editorial.
Doesn't Cover:
Hard investigative journalism.
Business and Finance.
Science and Technology.
Sports journalism.
Political commentary.
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
News reporting.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
No.
How is social media changing news?
Social media is making it easy to access breaking news in 'real time' as citizens can share updates from places where journalists aren't.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
N/A
What does it mean to be a journalist?
Being a journalist means purpose, impact, integrity and adaptivity.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
Museveni must go
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
Direct message/WhatsApp text.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Laptop, mobile phone, WordPress, Canva, Adobe InDesign, Google Docs.
What's your favorite social network?
Facebook
Who do you wish followed you?
Nancy Kacungira.
Why did you become a journalist?
To represent marginalized perspectives through storytelling.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
I was an author and editor.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
I love all my stories. But I'm proud to have been trusted by my then editor to interview Mike Kayihura, Rwanda's leading international artis.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Always stay true to yourself and your values.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Week days
What's the best pitch you ever got?
The one where I wrote about dental braces as a 'trend' in Kigali. It attracted a lot of engagement on social media.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
Covering a donation event for an NGO. It's the 'worst' because the administrators insisted on including information that I never witnessed.
What's your favorite drink?
Tea
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
In God's presence--praising, worshiping and praying.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
Daily monitor. Daily Nation. The New Times.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
People often assume that writing about everyday life, personalities or lifestyle topics lacks depth and impact.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.