Norman Busigu is to create a new and disruptive youth-led media platform that modernizes the distribution of news across Africa and the Caribbean to audiences in the diaspora while improving access to (and opportunity within) the creative industry – particularly for young African/Caribbean emerging talent.
Norman Busigu is a British-Ugandan, award-winning independent Filmmaker, Media Broadcaster, and published fashion Model.
He is now embedded within the creative industry landscape globally, being a member of the prestigious Forbes BLK and Soho House communities.
Through his critically acclaimed DocuFilms on Ghana and Nigeria, he has garnered a truly international audience (through screening events in the UK, Europe, and America and widespread press coverage) and undeniable credibility in the creative industry. His highly anticipated third Docu-Film “Jamaica: Africa’s Close Cousin?” was recently announced. This has led to him being recognised by mainstream media platforms such as Yahoo! Finance as an “Acclaimed African
Documentarian”, and GQ South Africa as “Africa’s Modern Storyteller” for his pioneering work in film and media by helping to positively (re)shape Africa’s global perception.
Having made groundbreaking strides and showing his commitment to pushing culture forward through his art, Busigu is shifting his focus onto a new mission: creating his own media platform “Postcards From The Diaspora” (PFTD). This will initially serve as a news outlet, and in time, develop into a full-service media company.
Busigu provided us with an explanation of what PFTD is: “the idea was born out of, what I identified to be, a big gap in the media landscape of a youth-led platform that provides those in the diaspora (with a focus on young audiences) with news updates of key happenings across Africa and the Caribbean in a factual, punchy and fun way. Right now, I feel that media outlets don’t effectively distribute their news by utilizing social media and the various ways in which we (in particular, young audiences) absorb information. Also, I feel they don’t account for our declining attention spans.”The
“I want to create something that fills these voids – while also building something that organically connects the diaspora community together with those back home in Africa and the Caribbean, so that we can collectively work towards achieving our common goals. I also wanted to create a platform where artistic/journalistic integrity is upheld to the highest degree, whereby purity of the
output is a foundational pillar of the platform.”
Busigu goes on to explain: “PFTD in its early stages will be monthly newsletters emailed to those who subscribe that provide news blasts (“postcards”) – these will be brief, punchy news updates… the bigger the team grows, the more frequently we can provide more “postcards”… and in time, PFTD will evolve to provide other offerings like news broadcasts, live events both in the UK and abroad, summits, webinars, and so on. The sky is the limit with this! Eventually, I hope we can work with ministries and governments of countries across Africa and the Caribbean”
Busigu then highlighted that his aim is for slow, steady, and organic growth of the platform, which will be measured in two ways – the subscribers who sign up to the emailing list, and the growth of the PFTD team. Busigu will serve as the Editor-in-Chief, and will be working with Yasmin Minnis,
who will be PFTD’s Senior Editor: Yasmin is a British-Jamaican emerging journalist, who has a keen interest in storytelling, media,a and global affairs.
Busigu, who is currently under the age of 30, is keen to bring young talent to the platform and help them establish themselves in the creative industry. Reflecting on his own journey within the industry, Busigu notes that many people in his journey took a chance on him, leading
to his various breakthroughs. He now wants to pay that same energy forward by opening the door to new talent and creating a platform that truly embraces new talent and creates a development pipeline whereby they can be developed as artists and creatives.
He feels that the industry for various reasons operates in a way that can make it very difficult for new talent to enter within it and successfully navigate through it. He acknowledges these challenges facing the next gen; improving access to the industry is something he is strongly committed to.
All Busigu asks is that they come with focus, passion, and commitment. He is opening the
PFTD doors to writers, presenters, graphic designers… – whatever skills they feel they can
bring to the platform… all they need do is reach out to him. The PFTD platform and its socials
will be going live soon, so keep an eye on Norman Busigu’s Instagram @normanbusigu for
more updates. Those who wish to work with Busigu can DM him via Instagram, or email via
norman.busigu@outlook.com
