[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t must be a dream to work alongside the woman you call Bae (Before anyone else). Hitherto, married couple Rashid Abdalla and Lulu Hassan were in rival media entities, perhaps competing for scoops and restricting themselves from utilising similar sources when anchoring news for rival TV stations. Not anymore.
When Citizen TV aired a promo showing the Nipashe Dream Team on Thursday, unmissable was the realisation that Abdalla is set to work with his wife, Lulu Hassan, in anchoring the 7pm Citizen Nipashe news.
It was scintillating to watch the usually composed Rashid walk gracefully — almost as if floating on ice — towards his spouse as he uttered words with uncontrollable Swahili fluency. What was said by the former NTV Swahili anchor may not have been discerned. But what was immediately clear — albeit with only few seconds as evidence — was that Lulu and Rashid have impeccable chemistry together.
The two will now be sharing a newsroom and sitting in the same editorial meetings making crucial decisions regarding the 7pm Swahili news bulletin, the flagship broadcast TV station of Royal Media Services.
There is a possibility even, that they may share the studio and co-anchor bulletins together. It must not be far from any producer’s mind to imagine the ratings spike that would accompany the prospect of pairing the couple together.
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In as much as it will be lovely to see the romantic banter between the two, this may raise a question of ethics surrounding the decision making processes and the professionalism that may accompany any potential pairing.
Whereas it is not odd to see a husband-wife combination in other professions, this could be a new prospect in the media industry.
Particularly on screen, if or when the two become the first couple in Kenyan history to share the same TV space on the same channel.
It is not a first in worldwide broadcasting, as international broadcaster CNN has had a similar situation on two occasions, including Dave Walker and Lois Hart who co-anchored CNN’s first ever news broadcast in 1980.
Many American and Canadian radio and TV stations have similar pairings, showing that it is possible. International media agencies also sometimes hire married couples to work in their foreign bureaus.
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How it will eventually pan out for the Swahili anchors on Citizen TV remains to be seen. There will definitely be a change regardless. Used to being on opposite sides, work-related talks at their matrimonial home must have been different. Now, they are on the same dream team.
But even more interesting is the thought of banter between the duo during breaks or the chance of home-related questions such as what would be on the menu popping up.
[…] Meanwhile, rival station Citizen TV — which raided the twin towers the most — has been at the same game, releasing elaborate teasers of its two flagship news bulletins. Dubbed the dream team, it has already unveiled promos revealing the Swahili newscast that features one power couple that could make history on Kenyan screens. […]