Q&A with IAB Digital Summit speaker Zeinab Badawi
As an award-winning journalist, what's been the highlight of your career to date?
Badawi: I enjoy working on the BBC's hard-hitting programme HardTalk - which is a challenging show and there is nothing else like it at the BBC. It requires a great deal of experience and knowledge to conduct such interviews, so it is definitely the most demanding aspect of my TV career to date.
What's the most exciting project you've worked on recently and why?
Badawi: Making The Lost Child documentary for BBC World News last year. It is the story of Sarah Forbes Bonetta, a young girl rescued from a life of slavery in West Africa, brought to England and taken under the wing of Queen Victoria. I love history and this was a unique and compelling story that had not been revealed on the mass media before - so a historical scoop! It was the runner up in the best features/documentary awards at the Foreign Press Awards in London 2014.
What has been the most invaluable piece of advice offered to you during your career as a journalist?
Badawi: The 17th -18th century French philosopher Montesquieu said, "a complex idea simply explained is the most powerful one" - so, though he didn't give me that advice directly, I think the art of good communication is to simplify complex realities.
How has social media influenced journalism today?
Badawi: Social media's influence is massive: it has provided multiple sources of information, it has given us first-hand witness accounts from even inaccessible areas, it has brought us citizen journalists, it shows us what audiences are interested in and it has given more platforms from which to disseminate our work.
What does it take to make it as a successful journalist?
Badawi: Curiosity, independent and open-minded thinking, and the ability to resist the 'herd mentality', i.e. swim against the tide, and to speak truth to power.
Who do you still hope to interview one day?
Badawi: Barack Obama - once he leaves office - to hear what he REALLY thinks!
IAB Digital Summit in association with BBC.com and Bookmarks ticket sales are open. Join the local digital industry as it celebrates creativity and innovation with a world-class line up of international and local talent. Seats are limited and due to over 800 entries received tickets are selling fast, go to http://iabsa.net/summit/home/ to find out more, register to book and avoid disappointment.
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