KNC talks journalism, entrepreneurship and a musical comeback

Charles Kakooza Nkuriza (KNC) is a man of many hats. He is the founder and managing director of TV and radio 1, a journalist and entertainer who has released a couple of songs like ‘African lady’, Ngwino, and ‘Abagore’. He had a chat with Sunday Magazine’s Sharon Kantengwa about his plans for his career. You are an entertainer, journalist and entrepreneur. What do you see yourself doing mostly? My job allows me to do all though on a different scale. But again the role of any media house is about educating, informing and entertaining. I find myself entertaining while I pursue my career as a journalist. I also find myself educating and informing when composing as an artiste. What motivated you to go a step further from being a journalist to being an entrepreneur? Anything that you do, you should find a way of turning it into an opportunity. When you are a journalist you should think of how you will be an employee and become your own boss. That’s how I became an entrepreneur and together with my friends we started a media house. A few years ago you bought a music studio and even produced some songs. Why did you eventually disappear from the music scene? I didn’t know what I got myself into then. Some people think that music is simple but it should be taken as a serious career. Today, music requires tactical marketing and you have to be strategic and willing to invest. I used to do business as a hobby but now I pursue it as career. I’m going to open a store on my digital platform that will soon be launched.We are doing class A videos, and recordings using international producers. My free advice to artistes is they shouldn’t do music just for themselves because what they do might not be good for the consumers and whatever music is trending might not work for everybody and for the market. What inspired the ‘Mzee quiz’ on TV 1 that you host? I analyzed the way we do programming and I realized that we tend to forget the a segment of our society who are the elderly. We program for kids, teenagers and women but tend to forget the elderly. These people are vulnerable and yet we need them for the sake of culture and wisdom. The show aims at entertaining these young people and in return teach the young audience the country’s history and culture. What does the future hold for your career? My team and I are investing heavily in content development and creating a platform for everybody to sell and advertise their content. We will be launching our new platform this month. I think that this will be life changing not only for us but anyone who knows the value of advertising. Musically, I will be having many compositions and we are working on 46 songs that are being produced in Australia and also working on projects like videos. We are also organizing concerts and a campaign to help vulnerable people upcountry through my music. I am also writing a new drama episode which will ready for airing by January.

Lifestyle

KNC talks journalism, entrepreneurship and a musical comeback