I met Salim a few years back at Newsxchange in Amsterdam. He was trying to start a pan-African TV channel from his base in Nairobi, Kenya. Salim is a passionate media professional.
He's the son of Mohamed "Mo" Amin who was a Kenyan photojournalist noted for his pictures and videotapes of Ethiopian famine. Apart from Ethiopian famine, Mo contributed exclusive photos of the fall of Idi Amin and of Mengistu Haile Mariam, was author of numerous books, including Journey Through Pakistan. Mo also covered various themes like East African Wildlife and the Uganda Railway. Amin died tragically when his Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 on November 23, 1996 was hijacked and he tried to rally passengers to overpower them.
Salim is taking his father's memory further, not only finding ways to out his huge video and stills collection in a modern context, but also create a platform for other African journalists, photographers and cameramen. a24media.com is the result.
In this interview, made at the 2009 Global Media Forum at Deutsche Welle Bonn, Salim updates us on the current plans, explains why a lot of journalist training in Africa fails, and his vision for content on mobile phones. He's suspended the idea of a 24hr channel, because funders wanted too much political control. Intsead he is concentrating on building a African Media Agency, now operating successfully for the last 18 months.
