Journalist Mac Otani left his role as sub-editor at Nation Media Group after three years with the media house.
He boasts experience in the media industry spanning over a decade.
Education
Otani hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Media Studies from the University of Nairobi.
According to his LinkedIn profile, he attended Magenta Media College between 2005 and 2007. That is where he attained a Diploma in Mass Communication, Media.
He excelled in practical journalism lessons for video and radio production. He was contracted to conceptualize, shoot and produce the college advert. Otani toured schools to market the institution. He was ranked the institution’s best student for the year 2006-2007.
Career
Radio Umoja
Otani kicked off his career at Radio Umoja in February 2007. He was a politics and parliamentary reporter, also doubling as an editor.
He arranged political and parliamentary interviews for station programs. Otani also sourced and conducted exclusive political interviews and stories. He also trained news reporters on parliamentary and political coverage.
Otani worked at the station for two and a half years before he departed to Ghetto Radio in July 2009.
Ghetto Radio
He was the Head of News at Ghetto Radio. Otani was mandated with assigning reporters, interviewing, recruiting and training interns. Reading news, sourcing and arranging interviews for news and programming also fell under his jurisdiction.
The Swala Nyeti founder produced features and advised radio producers on topical issues for coverage and field reporting.
Royal Media Services
In October 2012, Otani left Ghetto Radio for Royal Media Services (RMS).
He worked at RMS for five years till December 2017 as a radio news editor, radio commentator as well as a digital and social media editor.
Nation Media Group
In January 2018, Otani joined Nation Media Group (NMG). He served as a digital editor, social media producer and writer.
After three years at the media house, Otani called it quits on June 22, 2021 to focus on his new website.
Swala Nyeti
During an interview with a local daily on June 23, 2021, Otani revealed that one of the reasons for his depature from NMG was to focus on his new website Swala Nyeti.
“I left to chase my own dreams. If you have been on social media, I use the hashtag Swala Nyeti and I have used it for more than a decade and it has become synonymous to who I am. I decided to start a site around it. It somehow depicts what I want and where I want to go,” Otani said.
He launched the media house in 2020 and since then, it has grown to employ five journalists.
Aspirations
Otani aims at establishing the website as a reputable media house generating the latest of news and videos from the entertainment industry.
“I set the agenda, the tone and the direction that I want based on what I believe in. The site has been around since last year but someone was running it.
“I want to also nurture other people to do this. Currently there are FIVE employees and we are looking for more because we want to grow it into a big media house. We are thinking more about content which is wider than just a website,” he stated.