KAL Magazine

GROUNDBREAKING NEWS

Channel 4 News is one of Britain’s most respected news agencies. Often praised for its extensive international news coverage, and its high professional standards, James Barber talks to one of its most prominent producers, Keme Nzerem.

When Channel 4 News launched in 1982 it quickly established a highly distinctive identity, breaking some enthralling but controversial news stories, most notably the 2003 “Dodgy Dossier”. Keme Nzerem has been at the frontier
of these horrific moments, covering the Iraq war, 9/11 terrorist attacks, and most recently, hurricane Katrina.

His career at Channel 4 News so far has certainly been eventful, travelling across the world, reporting some of the most significant events in times gone by. The contribution that Keme Nzerem has made through his ingenious approach looks certain to leave his legacy at Channel 4 News, but it has taken a great deal of diligence to arrive at his current destination.

After obtaining a postgraduate degree in Broadcast Journalism, Keme landed himself a job at a desk-top publishing firm, soon progressing to work as a Press Officer for a local arts organisation. But his big break finally came when he landed himself a job working as a writer and project co-ordinator for Comic Relief, which later helped him to secure a job with Channel 4 News.

Keme, who is at present working as the Washington producer/reporter, has described his time at Channel 4 News as being extremely rewarding, but also very challenging. “It’s a brilliant show to work on,” he says, “but it can also be quite tough. We have a slightly different agenda to the rest of mainstream broadcast news, so are always looking for innovative ways to cover issues.”

In spite of being one of Channel 4 News’ most experienced practitioners, Keme admittedly concedes that even he finds himself challenged by the new advancements being made in news production. “The technology is changing very rapidly,” he explains, and learning to make the most of all the new opportunities that it brings is becoming very important. I think one of the biggest challenges though is believing in your own ideas, invariably someone will disagree or have a different take on things, but the level of debate we have when we decide and plan stories is generally very healthy.”

Last year Keme made a drastic move in his career by moving across the Atlantic to work for Channel 4 News in their American headquarters. Despite leaving his more familiar surroundings the move signals the beginning of a significant phase in his thriving career. “At the moment I’m the Washington producer,” he says, “which involves covering pretty much everything that happens in America. We cover the day-to-day cut and thrust of political intrigue in D.C., for example the war in Iraq. We have also spent a lot of time in New Orleans since Katrina; I was there for one day which was pretty tough, but interesting nonetheless.”

In spite of working in Washington, America’s political capital, Keme explains that it has been a very different experience working in a foreign country. “The biggest difference is that prospective interviewees don’t know who we are. We can’t just call and say: ‘Hi, it’s Channel 4 News’. Consequently politicians, in particular, don’t see us as a priority unless they have a big foreign policy remit. And if they do, we have to join the queue with all the other foreign hacks.”

Regardless of some of these difficulties Keme has settled into his new working environment and has no regrets about his decision to leave the UK. He says: “Since I’ve been in America we’ve been to South America twice this year, and Mexico at the end of last year, which I really enjoyed. There have been lots of interesting political developments as south of the border seems to be swinging further and further towards the left, much to the terrain of the Bush presidency.”

Channel 4 News has always had the reputation of being a serious news programme, but there has been speculation that there is an increasing amount of pressure to adopt a more mid-market tabloid style. Keme believes that there has indeed been a change in style for many renowned news agencies, but Channel 4 News has firmly retained its journalistic imperatives by not compromising. He explains: “If you look at the big splashes there is clearly a premium on personality news, and we at Channel 4 News rarely used to cover these topics, but times have definitely changed. However, just because something is important it doesn’t mean that it has to be dull; viewers have to take responsibility too. It’s up to the punters whether they choose to watch Channel 4 News, or MTV news, or indeed both and lots more! I think our viewers are intelligent and free thinking so we will continue to make our editorial and production judgements to the best of our abilities.”

In recent times there has been a drastic increase in the popularity of digital television, resulting in a succession of many other news providers now operating on a
24-hour basis. Subsequently, this has increased competition and made it much more difficult for news providers to distinguish themselves from other news agencies However, Keme is confident that Channel 4 News has a strong brand, and will continue to expand, pushing the envelope. “We recently broadcasted from Iran for an entire week, the week of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) report,” he explains, “which was classic Channel 4 News. It’s great being able to do that kind of stuff, so bring on the competition!”

As the media industry expands, the numbers of people eagerly wanting to enter the profession is greater than it’s ever been, but the fifth annual Skillset Consensus has found that the representation of people from ethnic minority backgrounds in the media is insufficiently lacking. Their findings show that although levels of employment of ethnic minorities were found to be above average in broadcast TV, they only make up 7% of the media workforce, even though they make up over 30% of the population in London, where the industry is concentrated. Keme believes that this lack of representation is leaving the industry at a disadvantage. “The industry has definitely got some challenges with getting a diverse workforce,” he says, “and that’s not just an issue of window dressing. We need a representative range of staff so that our coverage is both accurate and representative in terms of content and bias. We want as many people as possible to watch our shows, and thus our journalists have to have good access to the communities we are reporting about, or viewers won’t connect.” Nevertheless, he feels optimistic about the role that people from ethnic minorities can play within the profession.

It’s important for media corporations to diversify their workforce, and Keme explains that underrepresentation stems from the fact that much of the industry still operates by the old boys’ network. “The biggest problem with getting a diverse workforce is that if you go to a posh school and established university, you are so much more likely to have access to people already in the industry, who may or may not be able to give you a leg up, so to speak, but they are certainly in a position to give you advice, guidance, support, motivation etc. Although it’s controversial to admit it, there is some often repeated observation that recruiters find it hard to get good candidates from the non-old boys’ network.”

To counter the recurring issue of the old boys’ network the Journalism Diversity Fund has been established by the media industry in a bid to attract a greater spectrum of people from ethnic minority backgrounds into training to become journalists. “I think it’s important for us to raise aspirations of potential journalists before they even know they might want to be journalists,” says Keme, “and look further than the usual places for recruits.”

Channel 4 News’ power as one of Britain’s leading news agencies was confirmed in 2005 when it launched digital More4, which provides its viewers with more news. It’s a programme that has gone from strength to strength, achieving great commercial success.

Keme is insistent that prospective employees shouldn”t doubt their ability to secure a job with the organisation. He advises, “The best way of getting a job at Channel 4 News is to get a postgraduate journalism qualification which will equip you with skills and knowledge needed to work within this profession. It’s important to have excellent writing skills, lots of people who apply for work with us tend to submit long, badly written applications, some with spelling and grammatical mistakes which is really bad. While you are at university you should try to get as much experience in the industry as you can; student papers and local and hospital radio are great places to start, but be aware of long hours, and stressful, badly paid, work placements!’’

During Keme’s industrious career he has become one of the most highly esteemed members of Channel 4 News’ production team, but has never become complacent with his prestigious position; he’s still ambitious and has many plans for the future. “I’m really happy at Channel 4 News,” says Keme. “I’ll probably head to the UK after a while, although I’d like stay involved with foreign news. I’m keen to report more, and produce challenging films that make people sit back and take notice. I also enjoy my job because ultimately it is about making the world a better place.”

>>INFO
Journalism Diversity Fund
www.journalismdiversityfund.com