Jina Langu ni Omar Abdallah

Your name and what do you do?

My Name is Omar Abdallah

Am a journalist by profession, currently am a radio presenter, producer and I blog too.

What inspired you to go the Radio industry?

My story is interesting, I never even imagined of becoming a radio presenter, I just wanted to be a writer and that has been passion. I have been a news reporter for different news outlet including local radio stations in Mombasa and newspapers.

Do you prefer presenting in Swahili or English? And why?

I present my programmes in English, I prefer doing a Swahili show because of the kind of guests and people I interact with in my shows. I mainly like dealing with artists and most of them are usually from Tanzania and Mombasa, I don’t have to say more you know why.

Has social media changed the way news is created and consumed?

News consumption and presentation has really changed with the emergence of social media, its easy for one to get timely news on social, on social media you can also get raw news/ events, not edited.

You recently moved to Tanzania to work for Kiss fm Tanzania, how has the transition been?

Working as a radio presenter in Tanzania has been a very good experience, I have gained a lot of knowledge and experience career wise. I have also managed to create a lot of contacts especially in my field.

Tell us about DO’s and DON’Ts in your industry?

When in this industry you need to make sure that you are always up to date and well informed on current issues, you need to do a lot of research, interact a lot with artists in order to know them well so that it can be easy for you to tell their story.

You should never write or go on air with a topic or issue that you are not sure or well of, you will not only find yourself in the wrong side of the law but sound foolish to your audience, listeners, readers

You blog as well, tell us more about your blog.

My blog Ommydallah.com is mainly based on Coast especially Mombasa human interesting issues/ stories, celebrity news and interviews. Many have approached and suggested to me that I start making the blog a national one but am still not yet decided about that, I will cross that bridge when the time comes

How do you receive news for your blog?

Most of my stories I get through a tip that I might on social media or a source, I work on the tip and develope a story. Sometimes an artist or any other person can just contact me and tell me they have a story that they would it to be shared with the readers, when I find it interesting I post it.

Where do you see yourself ten years from now?

Well, in ten years I believe I will be a very different person especially career wise.

Parting shot

My parting shot is, always do what you love or like, follow your heart and never let anyone or any circumstance discourage you.