Foluke
Akinlose has been a journalist for over fourteen years her previous
posts include the ITN New Media Dept and Moreover Technologies; a Reuters
backed Technology Company and most recently Deputy Editor of the EMMA
(Ethnic Multicultural Achievement Awards) Awards magazine. She has a
BA honours in History and a post grad qualification in Periodical Journalism.
She launched Precious, an interactive lifestyle for women of colour
in August 2000 and has recently given up her job to concentrate on Precious
full time.
Reasons for launching Precious
Ever since Foluke could read she has been passionate about the written
word. That passion developed into a rather costly enthusiasm for magazines
and when she was in her teens Foluke would buy every teenage publication
going, "Just 17, Smash Hits, you name it I bought it" admits Foluke.
"I think I was around 14 when it really hit me that there was one
thing missing from all these magazines that I bought: there was nobody
in them that looked anything like me. There were lots of articles about
hair care and make-up but nothing about Afro hair and where to buy black
beauty products. Lots of my mates did their growing up through those
magazines but it was as if black teenage girls didn't exist". Foluke
continues, "It was also very rare in those days to find pin-ups that
featured the musicians that I was listening to - yeah I loved the same
pop music as my white mates but I also wanted a picture of Michael Jackson
to stick on my wall. Hard to believe now I know, but to see a poster
of a black pop star in those days was rare".
There and
then Foluke vowed that, "One day I would produce a magazine that would
feature black artists, have articles on black hair, black music and
tell young women where to buy make up for black skin. That's when the
seed for Precious was planted".
With the cost of setting up and producing a magazine so high, Foluke
decided to launch Precious on the Web as an e-zine. I'd become a huge
fan of the Internet when I started working in the New Media Department
at ITN. Searching around I quickly became aware that there were no resources
for women like me. I knew that this was the perfect opportunity to launch
something. I just knew that this was going to be an achievable way of
publishing - my dream was really going to come together. Not many women
of colour were using the Web at that time. I hoped that by having a
magazine aimed at, and full of content relevant to, women of colour,
they would be encouraged to explore the Internet deeper" says Foluke.
First steps
I didn't really have a plan, I researched on the Web to see if there
were any sites aimed and run by women of colour in the UK (there weren't)
then I just plunged right in there and did it. I had my some ideas about
the way I wanted the site to look and asked a Dutch friend to help me
with the design of the site and started begging mates to write articles
for me. Most of them thought I was absolutely mad when I told them what
I wanted to do" Foluke says.
The first thing Foluke had to do was to think of a name for this e-zine
- and finally decided on Precious. Foluke continues, "I don't know where
it came from but it just seemed so apt. I registered it as a domain
name". Slowly and surely she started gathering content and was lucky
enough to get an interview with Wale Adeyemi - a black British designer
who designs clothes for the Beckham family, among others. After launching
the site Foluke spent lots of time submitting the site to search engines
and sending out press releases to all the relevant magazines and newspapers
informing them of Precious' arrival - unfortunately she was ignored
by all of them!
Launching
In spite of the lack-lustre response from traditional media, the magazines
and newspapers, the response from visitors to the Internet has been
fantastic. The site gets visitors from the UK, the US, Africa, all over
the Caribbean and Japan.
"The range of visitors is incredible and pretty inspiring. I regularly
receive emails from African-Americans who seem surprised that there
is a visible black community in the UK and want to know more. "
In
July 2001 and 2002 Precious was nominated for a Windrush Award, which
was a massive compliment to the hard work, Foluke and the other people
involved in the site had put in. Precious has also been short-listed
in the Best Media Site category in the 'Yell.com Awards 2001' - the
people's choice of the best on the Net. I was really pleased about this
especially as I was up against the BBC and my previous employers ITN.
These were huge sites with huge resources."
In October 2002 Foluke was nominated for a Carlton TV Multicultural
Achievement Award in the publishing category. "I was proud to be nominated
but am quite a shy person so I found the TV interviews particularly
nerve wrecking. Lets just say it's not something I really enjoy!"
She is also a mentor for ITbeat, a scheme run by E-skills to encourage
young girls to get involved in IT and New Media
and think of these areas as a career option. "I was delighted to be
asked to be involved in a campaign like this. There just aren't enough
women working in the UK's technology sector. I think it's very important
that young women are informed about the wealth of opportunities available
to them in these industries."
One of the greatest pleasures Foluke has received from Precious is the
opportunity to give new writers a chance to get their work published.
As Foluke says, "Many of the women who contribute to the site are not
trained journalists but they have something to say and Precious is the
forum they use to say it. That's a huge compliment to me it because
it means that we have achieved what we set out to do".
Finally
Foluke wants Precious to become the first stop on the Web for women
of colour and anyone who has an interest in finding out about the achievements
of women of colour in the UK.
"I have had some pretty bad experiences starting out as a journalist,
unfortunately most of these involved working within the black press.
Low pay, unpaid invoices, not being appreciated and undermined for the
work that I was doing. I want Precious to be the complete opposite of
that."
"I want Precious to create opportunities for women who wish to become
involved in media and the Internet. I'm currently working on some very
exciting initiatives which I feel will enable Precious to be around
for a long time. I hope that I am laying down the foundations for future
generations of net-savvy media moguls."
"I want Precious to reflect the diversity of women of colour in the
UK, to highlight our achievements and show what a unique group of people
we are. There is so much talent in the UK and I want Precious to be
at the forefront of exposing it."
www.preciousonline.co.uk
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