Radio listeners in the Washington D.C. area have over 130 radio stations to choose from, offering news, information, music and talk programming to suit virtually every taste and need. Today on New American Voices you?ll meet a young Washingtonian from the Ivory Coast who has just launched a radio program aimed at listeners interested in Africa.
Linord Moudou is a slight, striking young woman with wide-set eyes, a brilliant smile, and sleek black hair tied back with a red ribbon. A month ago, pooling her own savings and loans from family members, she started a one-hour weekly radio program called ?Spotlight on Africa?.
Each Friday evening Ms Moudou hosts the program from a well-equipped studio in a radio station located in a quiet residential neighborhood on the outskirts of Washington. The station has an international flavor, broadcasting programs in Tigrinya, Spanish, Amharic, Tagalog, and French, as well as programs of Jewish and Irish music. Ms Moudou conducts her program mostly in English, although, given that her audience includes immigrants from Francophone Africa, some segments are in French as well.
Linord Moudou says she got into radio by way of television. She came to the United States in 1993 to study international journalism, with the intention of becoming a television professional. She interned at several television stations, hosted a TV show on public television, and eventually started her own television program, also called ?Spotlight on Africa?. But when that project ended due to a lack of advertisers and sponsors, she says friends encouraged her to go into radio instead.
Using her television experience, the radio broadcasting courses she had in college, the example of some friends who were successful radio broadcasters, and just plain media savvy, Linord Moudou put together a pan-African radio program consisting of a lively combination of music, talk, interviews, profiles, and community news.
Linord Moudou eventually hopes to expand her production company to include not only radio but also a television show, and to become, as she says, a household name for people interested in Africa. She believes that in this country, more, perhaps, than in any other, she can attain her goal.
Based on her own experience in the United States ? ten years of studying, working, and striving to carve a niche for herself in the media field -- Linord Moudou has some cautionary advice for people immigrating to this country, particularly those from Africa.
Last week ?Spotlight on Africa? found its first big sponsor-advertiser, assuring its future for the time being, and helping Linord Moudou take another step toward realizing her goals.