Pulse: Memoirs of a magazine

Pulse, ‘the only way to get a life’!

As a journalism student, I remember picking up the magazine insert and marvelling at the layout, the stories, the attitude. This was not a Young Nation with printed song lyrics and cartoons. It was hip, it was fresh and captured the zeitgeist of the moment. At a time when nobody cared to write about the growth of a new Kenyan music scene, Pulse shone a spotlight and forever changed entertainment reporting in Kenya.

It was not long before I found myself interning under Editor Wayua Muli, who ran a tight ship. Meetings every Wednesday to go over content, design and plan for the coming weeks and also take a peep at what the lowly competitors from the media house yonder were doing.

The team consisted of the young and quirky, the curious and passionate, it was here I found Tony Mochama, former USIU class mates Muthoni Wahome, Wairimu Githuka, Justo Casal writer caroline nyanga, Boniface Mwangi, Charles ‘CEO’ Otieno, and one time Editor Ciku Muiruri.

I’ll never forget the uproar Charles Otieno’s scoop on the celebrity break up of Suzanne and Gido Kibukosya caused nor Tony Mochama’s ‘Smitta’ lingo that still finds it’s way into today’s urban lexicon.
From Pulse/Standard, I learnt how to spot a story, content plan, write in depth and interesting feature stories and always, always apply journalistic standards. One of Wayua’s favourite things to hand to interns was a copy of the Media Ethics booklet by the Media Council of Kenya.

Fast forward to today, Pulse is now The Pulsor, thanks to a wrangle by a Swiss company that later came to enjoy the brand recognition built by the beloved 16 pager magazine in a national daily. Many people to this day do not realise that PulseLive is not the same as the Pulse magazine of old, but that’s a story of another day.

Pulse helped me cut my teeth as a journalist and for that I am forever grateful. It was the first to do what it did, from Caught Out, Fashion Police, In depth features on new music genres and always the hottest goss’ on Overheard. It helped build an industry, was loved and hated in equal measure but as Charles Otieno loved to say: “There are no permanent enemies in showbiz!”. I eventually moved to Nairobi Star and later the NMG group before becoming a freelance journalist, media consultant and now podcaster.

The scene has since evolved. Online media companies now ran the game when it comes to entertainment, some local, like Ghafla and Mpasho. While others, namely, Tuko and PulseLive, are foreign owned — companies who’ve clocked the growth potential of an African online media audience and moved fast to capitalise. Yes, there is money in the ‘fluff’, guys.

Celebrities no longer consist of rappers and singers, but TikTokers whose dance moves put Boomba girls to shame. Advertising has since changed and digital strategy is par the course. It’s exciting to see what the future holds with the advent of AI and VR. It’s not the end, just another new beginning.