The great Chinese philosopher Confucius once said, “choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
Today on the Groove Cafe, Smart24 Television news anchor and events host JoramPaul Ssonko re-echoed the statements during a conversation with Crystal as he narrated his passion for journalism.
“The most exciting thing is doing something you love, and it's paying you. However little it could be paying, you’d be driven by passion and be paid for it,” he said.
The news anchor also revealed that since he is already practicing something he is studying at University, he is hopeful of more attractive opportunities at the end of the Journalism course.
As a child, Ssonko recounted imitating television, radio presenters, and news anchors.“The funny part about me is when I watch TV, I don't recognize the content, I pay attention to the personalities. I loved football but my excitement was not the goals, it was on the hosts commenting on the match and the commentators,” Ssonko said.
He mentioned that his attention got drawn by presenters such as Mitch Egwang, Gaetano Kagwa, Andrew Kabura, Brian Mulondo, and anchors like Andrew Kyamagero. Among these were also female news anchors such as Nancy Kacungira and presenters such as Crystal Newman.
By the time he joined Secondary school, he was sure of pursuing a journalism career. He then emceed events at school and started dropping his applications to prominent television stations during his senior six vacation.
However, after waiting for a response in vain, Ssonko got employed at a Shell supermarket, where he started creating content for the company in the form of voiced ads that he would share on social media platforms. Fortunately, one went viral, and popular anchors such as Canary Mugume commented about his voice.
Eventually, an opportunity for a rebranding television station arose, searching for talented news anchors. Luckily, he was offered a 3 months training program until he became a full-time employee at the station.
The Groove Cafe with Crystal Newman airs every Weekday from 4-5 pm on RX Radio.
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