For basically a rookie, Beatrice Abena Adu got dropped into the Joy newsroom – a place akin to finding yourself in the deadly 1st century Roman arena as a gladiator.

Working with journalists who know what they are about can take a toll on your own confidence. The demand for results, the frustrations over your errors and finding your place on the table of men [in this case women too] was hard for Beatrice Abena Adu.

Her self-esteem hit rock bottom like the current state of Ghana’s currency, her confidence decomposed leaving a poor sense of worth so the natural thing to do was to put her career right under the guillotine six months into the job.

Yet in this decaying spectacle, watered by her own tears, a little shoot shot out, green and fresh like a plantain, decay became the natural stage in the process of re-germination.

As Marianne Williamson wrote, “our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.”

And yes we all are, aren't we? And so was Beatrice. But ultimately, she got to say 'yes I did it - the kind of ‘Yes’ said with your teeth clenched tightly as your fist, as she walked off with her award as the best in Health Reporting with the documentary titled "Sick Hospitals" during the 19^th edition of the Ghana Journalist Association.

Beatrice today, walks about the newsroom with the confidence of a model and a veneer of a somewhat necessary pride of a multimedia journalist.

 

How I choose journalism

Fitting into the popular dream of many children, Beatrice said she wanted to be an air hostess. Too familiar. There are simply too many imaginary air hostesses walking in Accra.

Well, after that didn’t work, she thought of being a weather forecaster. Watching CNN and BBC informed this ambition. Watching GTV killed that ambition. It didn’t look as glamorous as the pictures on CNN.

As young Beatrice mulled over a career path, she noticed something –she enjoyed reading in class. And her teachers very often made it a point to ask her to read aloud in class – Right from Primary school through to JHS and SHS at O'reilly Secondary School.

Beatrice at O'reilly SHS

One of her first natural ability was acknowledged. Time to make a career out of it.

Sometimes rejection means direction

Unsuccessful in gaining admission into the University of Ghana, Beatrice felt disappointed. But rejection, they say sometimes, means direction.

And so off to evening school at the Ghana Institute of Journalism for a two-year diploma in Journalism. With the benefit of hindsight, Beatrice said there was a real possibility that the vast range of social science subjects could have scuttled her preference for journalism.

After all, she had changed her mind on her career choices more than once.

Beatrice did her national service at the Answarudeen Islamic School – a school that existed on paper, a place that was really a mosque. She was told to go look for kids and gather them to teach.

A few months into this, she had over 100 kids and toddlers. While babysitting and teaching, she felt a real urge to get into a media organization to try her hands on what she learnt in school.

Short stint at Hot FM, a prelude to a long shot to becoming a Joy FM hotshot

Beatrice recalls that Accra-based radio station, Hot FM gave her the opportunity to do an internship. School began after 9am and closed at 12pm. And Beatrice felt the need to optimize her time.

She joined Hot FM’s Morning Show hosted by Adakabre Frimpong-Manso who would also later return to Multimedia’s local language radio station, Adom FM. She was also a producer for ‘This week in Parliament’ a recap on radio of highlights in Ghana’s parliament.

She received encouragement from her colleagues and superiors at Hot FM. And Editor-In-Chief of the Daily Dispatch Ben Ephson encouraged her to write more after he published an article she wrote.

But after her internship and her national service ended, Beatrice found herself in the familiar terrain - jobless.

'Joy FM was the last thing on my mind’

A couple of job interviews with banks didn’t work out. She never really was into the interviews, anyway. It was a desperation fuelled by her friends and social pressure of unemployment.

In all the different pieces of advice, one shot out like that lone arrow landing on Achilles’ heels.

‘Send an application to Joy FM’, a friend encouraged.

“Joy FM was the last thing on my mind’. The thought of working at Ghana’s biggest media muscle had an intimidating effect on her. And as she contemplated this option, she realized that she had nothing to lose except the tightening grip of doing little when there was so much to do.

Beatrice joined Multimedia’s Joy FM in 2010.

Facing the sack at Joy FM

Ato Kwamena Dadzie was at the helm affairs at Joy FM then. Beatrice had a torrid time fitting in. She didn’t know the names of ministers off head. And once confident in her reading skills, she found herself all over the place as she read announcements.

She was given two months to shape up or ship out. To an emotionally fragile Beatrice, every single shot of criticism hit her hard - releasing tears from her own fears.

A changing of the leadership at the newsroom brought in Elvis Kwashie as the new Managing editor. And really- Beatrice, then emotionally wrecked, needed management.

Progress came steadily, sometimes it was patchy. Beatrice says she found solace from the advice from her pastor, direction from her superiors like Elvis Kwashie and Samson Lardy.

Beatrice, the team realized was good at live reports and more opportunities to read helped her build her confidence.

The storm was over.

The award-winning story

Beatrice Adu did a story on the state of health facilities in Ghana. Focusing on Accra would be easy. It would get some good thumbs up from a few friends. But – that’s it.

She travelled up north to the Upper West, to interview patients and administrators in health posts there. Beatrice Adu was adjudged the best in Health Reporting with the documentary titled "Sick Hospitals.

Managing editor Elvis Kwashie spoke of Beatrice.

“She has perseverance and a very good voice’.

He was even more impressed by a story Beatrice did about a girl who had been shunned by her parents after she got pregnant. The story generated good gestures and got some good Samaritans to step in and put the teenager girl back to school.

Beatrice “has given that girl a gift of destiny”, he emphasized. Beatrice herself would know this, because like that teenage girl, she was given the gift of an opportunity.

Four years in journalism, Beatrice Adu has not arrived by a long shot – a pretty long shot. But like the activated codes on these fancy modern missiles, she is locked in to hit her target no matter how far away it is.