Allow me to borrow from a famed philosopher (wink!) and introduce myself. While this may not be a public service announcement, my name is Olive Burrows, and clearly, I should stick to the day job and leave the lyricism to Jay-Z. Where I excel is in the realm of documenting the first draft of history. I am a journalist not just by training and profession but, I dare say, vocation. The written word is my medium, and your reality is my muse.

We may have met already in real-time in the early morning as you prepared for the day, with the TV playing the AM Live news program, which I host, in the background. You might have thought, ‘Where do they get these people?’ as you streamed the political debate on your phone in transit. Alternatively, we could have been introduced later in the day as I chronicled the day’s events on the news. Whichever the case, allow me to reintroduce myself.

I have been a practicing journalist for over a decade, starting my career as a freelance magazine writer while pursuing a communications degree at Daystar University. I later joined the Capital FM news desk as a reporter and rose through the ranks to associate editor. In my six years there and five years as part of the National Media Group as a news anchor and reporter, I’ve had occasions to sit across from and interview heads of state, chief justices, ministers, titans of industry, and thought leaders. Most notably, I was the only Kenyan journalist to interview US President Barack Obama during his visit to the country in July 2015. It is a privilege and duty I do not take lightly—the responsibility to inform and hold those in power to account. It is a cause to which I am committed.