She had no previous reporting or broadcasting experience. Her job was supposed to last for one year. That was 19 years ago.
“I met a lot of friendly people and I enjoyed the job as I went along,” said Balarabe. At FRC, she worked closely with one of the company’s head radio producers. And whenever the producer was on leave, Balarabe took over. “I tried to do it the best way I could,” she said. “Even our supervisor was asking me whether I had worked for a radio station before. I enjoyed working there, so I did it well.”
Today, Balarabe is a principal producer for FRC. She works in the women and children unit of the station, where she produces Family Line, a weekly program that deals with environmental, social, or health-related topics related to family life. Family Line is broadcast throughout northern Nigeria. In addition, Balarabe often supervises the production of other programs at FRC that deal with women and children.
Balarabe is one of the recipients of the IWMF’s 2005 Public Health Fellowship. She will be based at KQED radio in San Francisco the first four months of her fellowship. The last two months of her fellowship will be spent working on a project in Nigeria.
Although she doesn’t specialize in health reporting, Balarabe produces many reports that deal with health issues. Topics range from the common cold to measles to malaria. “Sometimes I look at the season we’re in and the most likely problems that could arise … and I get a specialist to talk about it,” she said. She feels that HIV/AIDS and malaria have the greatest impact on Nigerian society.
She has produced many programs on HIV/AIDS, but feels that while Nigerian media in general “do a lot” to adequately cover the pandemic, one of the greatest challenges is engaging an audience. And despite the fact that that radio reaches more Nigerians than television or newspapers, Balarabe says radio needs to be more effective. The trick, she adds, is to make the news more interesting than just the facts.
“A lot of people listen to drama programs on my station, especially [those aired] in the local languages.” said Balarabe. She feels radio drama, scripted scenarios where actors read the parts, is an effective medium to report on HIV/AIDS because it’s popular with those who live in rural areas. Many listeners are also drawn to radio drama because of the well-known actors who read the scripts. Plus, people can listen to them while they carry on with their everyday activities, like household chores and taking care of their children, said Balarabe.
While attending a health reporting conference in Abuja, Balarabe came across an application for the IWMF’s public health fellowship. She was immediately interested in the program when she realized the opportunity could enable her to produce an in-depth, thorough series of reports on HIV/AIDS by providing her with adequate time and resources – something she and other reporters often lack at the Federal Radio Corporation. “To do such a series … you need more time and maybe you even need somebody to sponsor the program,” said Balarabe. As part of her fellowship, Balarabe plans to do a 13-part drama series on HIV/AIDS, which will be aired at her home radio station after she returns from San Francisco. She also wants to use what she will learn from the operations at KQED to make a case for starting a health desk at FRC.
Balarabe plans to have her drama series aired in English, as well as in Hausa, the language which is spoken widely throughout Nigeria’s rural regions. “By doing that I think more people will listen,” said Balarabe. She also feels that it’s important to target an audience that doesn’t really know enough about HIV/AIDS and how it is contracted. “And if more people listen … they will be able to learn something about it and prevent it,” she said.