The Broadcaster
“Broadcasting was my first profession. I fell in love with radio broadcasting and excelled at it, distinguishing myself from the pack. Radio is an effective vehicle of communication and now with technology we have many more broadcasting platforms to reach your desired audience. The artistic potential of radio was not explored until the 1930s and since then it has gone on to be an effective tool for the dissemination of information and education to the masses. Radio has been the launch pad for many careers in film and television acting, for election to public office. The most notable career launched by radio was that of Ronald Reagan, who went on from radio to acting then became the Governor of California and finally the 40th President of United States of America. Radio GAGA!”
As a young boy growing up in Mashonaland Central, James was like most boys his age and enjoyed going to the mobile cinemas that used to circulate through the rural areas, townships and reserves. His love for broadcasting came from an interest in movies and his dream was to study acting and film-making. He abandoned this dream after the death of his father as he had to assume familial responsibilities. .
This then persuaded him to turn to the next best platform which was radio and l after a prolific career as a radio broadcaster James would venture into commercial television broadcasting as the founder of Zimbabwe’s first independent commercial television station, Joy TV, in 1997.
Almost 20 years before James was part of a pioneering group that introduced TV Mashonaland to the Rhodesian Broadcasting Corporation and presented “The Pop Show” to integrate Africans into mainstream television from 1978 to 1980. This channel would later become TV2 after Zimbabwe’s independence as part of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporations television channels.
And so began a career in broadcasting that continues to this day.