KTN's Grace Kuria: Adapting to Presenting News From Home

A picture of CGTN's Grace Kuria pictured on set at her former job with KTN.
A picture of CGTN's Grace Kuria pictured on set at her former job with KTN.
File

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one most adaptable to change. Or so pioneer evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin believed.

It is this spirit of adaptation that the arresting KTN News anchor Grace Kuria has taken up and channelled into her newest challenge: how to broadcast from home.

It is an unprecedented situation even for her and she laughs a little as she narrates to Kenyans how she has shifted aspects of her life to accommodate the new changes.

CGTN's a Grace Kuria taping a news briefing from her home when she worked with KTN.
CGTN's a Grace Kuria taping a news briefing from her home when she worked with KTN.

"A cameraman comes in an hour before we do the briefing to set up. I do my make-up beforehand. Then I rearrange my living room," begins Grace.

A composed figure, she conveys that the idea of shooting news bulletins from her home had never crossed her mind but she had taken the change in stride and was rising to the challenge as it presented itself.

"You take every day as it comes. This working from home thing is something I never thought could happen. How can you produce a broadcast from your house? But it's possible. We are doing it. We just have to adjust to the new normal and find ways of coping," Grace opines.

While the seas have thus far allowed smooth sailing for the 24-year-old anchor in her new environment, her one worry gnawing incessantly at the back of her mind remains: what happens if electricity fails during a bulletin?

It remains for her a bridge that will have to be crossed but only once it's gotten to.

Due to the effects of the pandemic, Grace, who doubles as a reporter has hung up that particular hat at least for the moment in the new division of roles enforced by the company.

This division also means that Grace now works in 7-day shifts: working one full week and then getting the next week to reboot, readjust and reemerge to conquer the uncertain plains once more. 

She has gotten creative in spending the new chunk of time she has on her hands and has invested her hours in reading, trying out recipes and indulging in the guilty pleasure of watching movies.

"I'll be honest, I'm doing moves like never before," Grace discloses while chuckling slightly. 

Watch Grace Kuria deliver a news briefing from her home:

"Cleaning the house, cooking and reading books, basically that's what I've been up to," she adds more seriously.

The anchor underscores her belief that the pandemic could still be turned into a good if people could utilise the time they had in bettering themselves and cultivating long-held passions.

"We have a lot of time on our hands so find something to keep you occupied. Learn something new: a foreign language, cooking, anything! So that after this quarantine you can come out better. Because we didn't ask for it, we never prepared for it but try to find the positivity," she concludes.

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