The Voice In The Citi, Bernard Avle

His aggressiveness in a debate on a campus radio station while a student, earned him a place at the station as a Student Volunteer Broadcaster. This is how Bernard Avle entered into the journalism profession. You might call it a job but he calls it his ministry.

Initially training to be an Economist, he found out journalism came naturally to him and at the period where Bernard was nursing his passion for radio, he had someone like Komla Dumor to look up to because Komla had made radio a viable profession.
 

Bernard joined Citi FM as a national service person. After his service, he was fully employed as a broadcaster and quickly moved on to become the host of the Citi Breakfast Show in 2005. Now, Bernard doubles as the Morning Show Host and the News Director at Citi FM.

Bernard recalls some “make shy” moments at the early stages of a career; from blanking out on air, contradicting himself, trying to interview the more experienced personalities, starting questions on the wrong premise, to getting facts wrong. “The good thing is that the station was young and the listeners few, so the errors were almost ignorable.”

In his work as a journalist, he has faced a lot of challenges. He refers to an article in the Graphic Showbiz at one time when the writer said he was not cut out to be a radio presenter- he did not have the voice presence, sense of humor, nor sense of music appreciation. Nevertheless, “this did not make me doubt myself. I improved on my strengths and ignored my weaknesses.”

In Bernard’s view, radio is an interesting dimension in Ghana’s democracy. However, “the issue with radio and the electronic broadcasting is that the human resource base is weak. The training to become a journalist was constrained to the Ghana Institute of Journalism but the people who found themselves on air did not go to that institution. The profession needed people who were passionate, hardworking and also competent. The competence is not just in having a nice voice and speaking good English; it is in understanding how English words are used and articulating them very well. Journalists today allow politicians to have a field day. They do not ask the right questions and those people who try to make a difference are perceived negatively. The educational institutions, policy makers and industry must work together: whilst the policy makers ensure that they pass laws that will benefit the industry, the educational institutions should also train students properly, and then industry - the media houses – must ensure that the code of ethics and best practices are upheld.”

On what he wants to be remembered for if he ever leaves the world of broadcasting, Bernard says, “I want to be the man who redefined what a morning show should be in the Ghanaian context.  I want to change the dominance of politicians on radio and create a platform where Ghanaians can rally around a positive course: a place where people can be held accountable.” He wants the morning show to be seen as a market place of ideas with interests in business and technology, as well as social and human interest stories.

Bernard is passionate about developing the youth. He is currently involved in a project supported by STAR Ghana called “Hold my hand,” where he mentors 40 young people he calls “Citizen Journalists” on how to prepare documentaries and tell their own stories. He also creates a platform for young entrepreneurs to share their ideas on his show and features in programmes that engage young people at the tertiary level.

He majored in Economics at the University of Ghana and has an MBA in Marketing from the University of Warwick. He is married to Justine Avle and the proud father of Senanu Avle.

On his advice to the youth he says, “The important way of looking at things is that you are not as good as you think you are, and you are not as bad as other people may think you are.”