Ex-KTN Reporter Makes Plea After Being Fired From BBC

Former KTN News reporter, Carolyne Bii, on Wednesday, July 12 announced that she was willing to do media interviews, forums as well as conferences to share her redundancy experience having been laid off from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

In a statement posted on her LinkedIn and Facebook pages, Bii recounted finding herself in an unexpected turn of events in her career journey having been fired from the British state broadcaster after slightly over a year, where she worked as a journalist.

She learnt of the redundancy announcement just eight months into her new role at the media house, which also came to her in an unexpected fashion, an announcement which materialised five months thereafter.

Former KTN News reporter, Carolyne Bii, posing for a photo on July 12, 2023. /FACEBOOK.CAROLYNE BII

"My role at the BBC was declared redundant. I was roughly 8 months old at the organisation when the announcement was made. Sudden and unexpected. 5 months later I was shed off. It’s now two months since I left. 

"I’ve made a conscious decision: a hard one to talk about my redundancy journey. I’m now branding myself as a redundancy ambassador, its new poster child. Call me for those media interviews, forums and conferences, where you need someone to talk about redundancy. I’m a case study who’s found hope in the ashes," she appealed.

According to Bii, she was a victim of BBC's mass redundancy move triggered by financial decisions and had nothing to do with her work at the media house, though she expressed gratitude to have worked with talented journalists at a media house whereby she developed her skills and knowledge in the competitive industry.

"In the coming weeks, I will reflect on the shock, the frustrations, worry, the wounds; I live with a redundancy scar now, the never-ending job searches, and the fatigue that follows. Acceptance, the feeling of possibility. This confidence to speak about it. Now, the sea has split for me to pass through it but what if it joins when I’m halfway there?

"I will tell you what I have learned along the way. People will say: now focus on farming, start a business, you're too young, at least you don't have a family... phrases masquerading as encouragement. I think. Friends will tell you; God will provide, and another door will open. They try, but it still leaves you scratching your head. Do you apply for roles or do you start a business?" she promised her followers.

Explaining her reason for airing out her story, she learnt that being made redundant in Kenya brings about a mountain of shame and humiliation as well as stripping someone of their value, be it professional profile or personal.

"Truth be told, losing your job may profoundly affect your professional identity, status and importance. Bitange Ndemo wrote, “The day I left office, my phone ceased to ring. My friends had moved on… It is at this point that one must take control of the situation…” A sobering article.  It’s on the internet. 

"What do you do? They ask. I am a journalist, I say. Where do you work? ... crickets… I’m freelancing. What gigs are you working on, where do you get published? Do you tell them?" she wondered.

Bii noted that it was her first time speaking about her being declared redundant in the public eye as such news would be reserved for those in her social circle.

While appealing to her followers to share her story across board, she reiterated that BBC's decision to retrench her was merely business and not based on her performance at the media house.

"Again, it was a business decision, nothing to do with how I did my work. I never took it personally, and never will, but there are specific thoughts that cross my mind regularly. I’ll talk about it," she concluded.

Bii worked at the Standard Group for seven years where she was a multimedia journalist and reporter as well as a trainee at the Standard Media Academy. Prior to that, she worked at CNBC Africa as a Production Assistant for a year.

Between 2014 and 2015, she served as a Communications Assistant at Presidential Digital Talent Program (PDTP) at the ICT authority where she was tasked with ensuring seamless interviews, feedback and smooth running of the first cohort of the Presidential Digital Talent Program a programmed under the Ministry of ICT that aimed at recruiting recent graduates in the ICT sector to help transform government and make and turn it into an active ICT Hub.

She is a graduate of Daystar University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication, Electronic Media and Public Relations as well as a Master of Arts (MA) in International Journalism from Cardiff University in Wales, United Kingdom (UK).

BBC on September 29, 2022, dominated global headlines over its intention to fire over 380 journalists in its offices across the world, including its bureau in Nairobi, while proposing to initiate a digital structural transformation of the World Service with the aim of serving global audiences better.

BBC offices in the United Kingdom. /FILE