Career Monitor Update: Toyosi Ogunseye

Toyosi Ogunseye relocated to the BBC, London in 2022, as Senior News Editor for News and Commissioning, for the BBC programmes NewsDay, BBC OS and BBC Minute.

Her focus is on the Latin American, Indian and African markets.

She is the former Head of West Africa at the BBC where she managed the operations and five language services of the BBC in Francophone Africa and Anglophone West Africa.

An international presenter, she hosted the BBC World Service’s international debate programme, World Questions.

Prior to joining the BBC, she edited Sunday Punch, one of Nigeria’s leading weekend newspapers.

Source

Ogunseye ( Full Profile) who went from being a crime reporter in #Nigeria to becoming a global media personality shared some insights on navigating today’s media landscape at a recent webinar by Women in News Africa

Tenacity: I was determined to be successful. I wanted front-page stories. I would sit in police stations to know what the big stories were. If I didn’t get what I wanted that day, I’d go back the following day. I kept at it every day.

“I eventually became the Sunday editor of #Nigeria’s largest selling newspaper at age 27 — & the first woman.  It came with a lot of opposition — but also a lot of support.

I wasn’t going to fail, so I learnt to deal with the antagonism & leverage the support.

“If you’re good, you won’t need to tell people that you are good. Improve yourself every day. Your job needs to speak for itself. Build a brand. Build a portfolio that shows impact.

“There’s no newsroom that has no #digital presence today. To get into this space, start with your organisation – that’s free training, free resources. Build your experience there. Don’t complicate #multimedia #journalism. Just get your footprint on more than one platform.

“There are two pathways to #journalism: be ethical or be unethical. The 1st one is difficult but offers lasting rewards. The 2nd one doesn’t offer anything sustainable. Understand the legacy you want for yourself.

“Most newsrooms are made up of Progressives, Non-progressives & neutrals and so as a journalist you must be aware of who you associate with – because that can be the difference in how sources view you and which doors are opened.”