One angry fan actually wrote to a Daily Nation columnist Peter Mwaura saying he is irritated with the “juvenile, irritating and annoying” ways of NTV news anchors.
He continued, “Can you please request nation TV evening news presenters to keep a professional distance from each other. Reading news is not a picnic outing."
Peter Mwaura then posted the transcribe of an example of banter between Olive and Okari.
Dennis Okari in NTV Tonight of July 16, 2018: “Speaking of the visit of Barrack Obama, Olive Burrows, you are the only Kenyan journalist who happen to have interviewed Barrack Obama while he was still in office as president.”
Co-anchor Burrows: “Yes, yes, I was.”
Okari: “Many people say he it too polished, everything around him so choreographed and scripted. Is there anything that we don’t know that you know?”
Burrows: “I don’t know. He walked in and of course he had been briefed that we were going to interview him. So he walks in and says ‘Hi Olive’…Obama knows my name. But the question I get asked a lot is how did he smell?” Okari: “How did he smell?”
Burrows: “I don’t know. I can’t remember. Okay. This is what I can say: He doesn’t smell fetid and was not wearing pungent cologne. May be we can leave it at that.”
Okari: “But still smells.”
The anchors break into laughter.
Mwaura was saying that not all banter is bad, but the new readers should embrace the seriousness that comes with news delivery.
Since the rest of us watch Okari and olive for the on-air chemistry, we hope that they don't stop the banter. Ever.
That said, here are a series of screen grabs taken from a video where the two were enjoying a moment together, off screen.
Enjoy.
