Journalism takes courage. So does moving from a rural village to a capital city. Correspondent Enock Wanderema shares his journey to becoming a global citizen.
When you read a published article on News Decoder, you’re only seeing part of the story. Who is writing it? What went into reporting the story? Why were they interested in this topic in the first place?
To answer some of those questions, we’re introducing “Correspondents in the Spotlight.” In a series of video conversations, you’ll meet the professional journalists behind News Decoder, go in-depth on their latest articles, discover their career paths and learn about their writing process — and how they overcome some of the same difficulties faced by young writers.
In today’s Spotlight, we catch up with Enock Wanderema, a young journalist based in Uganda who joined News Decoder’s correspondent team in October 2023.
Enock Wanderema is a Ugandan journalist. A Mugisu, meaning he is from the Bagisu tribe in Eastern Uganda, he moved to Kampala to pursue his university studies.
The first of his family to attend university, Enock wasn’t sure whether it was for him and was unsure of what to study, Education or Mass Communication. After applying to both, Wanderema was accepted on the Mass Communication course at Uganda Christian University and hasn’t looked back since.
“At first, I didn’t even know journalism existed because when you’re studying in Uganda from high school journalism is not that big of a thing,” Wanderema said. “But then it turns out it was perfect for me because I had passion for writing, even in high school, I was doing literature as a kid. I loved reading.”
His passion started from a young age. “But I wasn’t writing news. I was writing poems,” he said. “But then when I came to University, that’s when journalism came in, so I leveraged my writing ability and maybe had just to switch it to a journalistic avenue.”
Wanderema’s time at university taught him the tools of the trade and gave him the opportunity to try his hand at different forms of writing. He recounts his formative writing experiences: writing for the campus newspaper, his first profile piece and a story on a controversial misuse of university funds. He gained a taste for journalism, for interviewing, for the writing process, for the issues that can arise as a result of writing a piece — and for seeing his name on a byline.
“It felt good for me when I was published. I was like, ‘okay, so you can even get published’,” he said. “And seeing your byline somewhere — ‘by Enock Wanderema’ — I was like, yeah, that’s perfect. It felt cool for me and that was the turning point for me.”
Finding opportunities and mentors in journalism
Wanderema started writing more, looked for — and found — more opportunities. He first wrote for the campus newspaper and has since become a regular contributor to Uganda’s Daily Monitor, worked at United Nations Global Pulse and has been published by Medium, HT Syndication and Microsoft News amongst others.
He has written several articles for News Decoder and speaks fondly of his mentorship from another News Decoder correspondent, Helen Womack. “She has really helped me improve my writing,” he said.
“She’s always said, ‘have a character in your story and run by that character’,” he said.
In Wanderema’s first piece for News Decoder, “A race to save Uganda’s hippos,” that character was wildlife park ranger, Raymond Odong. “Making sense of wild creatures with photography” follows different actors in wildlife conservation, and in “Of gods, kings and Nescafé,” Wanderema himself is the protagonist.
The piece tackles the difficulties of moving from a rural community to the capital — as Wanderema and so many Ugandans have — and juxtaposes traditional, rural life with the fast-paced, modern, urban environment of the capital.
“It’s life and I think as much as we are switching to being global citizens and technology is bringing these instant things, it’s also changing the way we live and I think it’s a wake up call to people,” Wanderema said. “How much do we have to leave out to embrace the new life? But also, how much do we have to retain and how much do we have to stick to and say no, we actually have this. This is us. This identifies us. It’s more about identity in a global world.”
Be bold, be prepared.
Enock shares his struggles with writing and gives advice to young writers, including the importance of leaving your comfort zone to interview strangers, to ask difficult questions and get the stories you’re looking for.
“Journalism is really something that needs courage, passion. Because if you don’t, you will fail from the get go,” he said.
His advice is peppered with anecdotes, personal experiences and lessons he’s picked up along the way. “I remember someone told me — when you’re given six hours to cut down a tree, use the first four to sharpen the axe and then the last two to cut it down,” he said.
When writing features as opposed to breaking news you have the luxury of time and are not struggling with tight deadlines.
“Give it time. Don’t rush. Understand what you want,” he said. “Actually, before you even go for interviews, do your research. Know what you want, know the end goal.”
Time and time again, Wanderema underlines that preparation is key. “So, invest more time in preparation. Do your research and understand what’s needed, why it’s needed and why it’s important to the story.”
Watch the full conversation on YouTube.
Cathal O’Luanaigh is News Decoder’s program and communications manager. Cathal is an educator, linguist and creative with a particular interest in international development, global citizenship and the arts. He has a background in Geography (BA), Commercial Music Production (Diploma) and Development and Emergency Practice (MA). Irish, raised in Brussels and now based in Madrid, he has lived and worked in Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, Spain, Uganda and Vietnam.