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Carol: Newsroom mentor who went down for that fledgling reporter
The head of Nation Media Group-Uganda’s Mentorship and Partnerships Desk, Ms Carol Beyanga. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- I admired her as a thorough manager, mother, and Christian who believed in raising others.
Ms Carol Alyek Beyanga, who has been Head of Mentorship, Partnerships, and Monetization at Nation Media Uganda, has decided to put her 20-year journey under a shawl to "take a different route."
I joined Nation Media Group in 2014 as a freelance reporter stringing stories from the Bushenyi area but got an opportunity to tap into Carol’s wisdom later in 2015 when she became Managing Editor. I admired her as a thorough manager, mother, and Christian who believed in raising others. Indeed, she has risen through the ranks as a sub-editor, features editor, special projects editor, managing editor (digital content), and later Head of Mentorship, Partnerships, and Monetization. What a fruitful journey!
Am soon making 10 years as a reporter at Daily Monitor and I feel so proud and blessed to have gone through her hands and also through the hands of other newsroom gurus like Tabu Butagira, Alex B. Atuhaire, Daniel Kalinaki, and Charles O. Bichachi among others.
I joined NMG as a fledgling writer who would beat around the bush and sometimes still didn’t come up with that big story, but Carol and colleagues were willing to touch my hand and have me refined. Carol had that knack for receiving my poorly written pieces, improving them, and encouraging me to read through the final story so that I could compare and learn. She always wanted to see that difference!
Sometimes I could not make it, and other days failed to add up, but Carol was more interested in seeing a better me. I will remember Carol as someone who walked her talk about patience and persistence. Some ‘serious and busy’ editors will see your raw material and trash it. I still don’t know why, in the middle of tight schedules, Carol would choose to be patient and hone that raw piece in a non-fault-finding mode.
Carol cared to know the lives of her reporters beyond the newsroom. In the years 2018-19, I developed a complicated health condition that nearly claimed my life. During that time, I was not productive. At that point, very few editors will call to know why and what is happening, but Carol came for me. I wasn’t able to talk on the phone, but she still pushed to get a briefing on what was eating me up. I will never forget this! Since then, she has been caring to know how I am doing, my family, my life, and what my plans are.
I cannot forget to mention Carol as someone who was and still is part of the group that has shaped the diversity and ecosystem of conversations at national and regional spaces, especially as the first female managing editor with a good track record of success in writing and editing and a philosophy of mentoring reporters.
Taking time to read the raw material and find suggestions for a rewrite to meet the house style and length requirements is golden and better than sending them into the "you failed to make it" funk.
What a boss and mentor!
