A journalist for new Americans: Nigerian American finds role with Columbus immigrants
Deba Uwadiae, the editor and publisher of The New Americans Magazine, sat across his desk from a reader who had stopped in — as his readers often do — to ask a question on a recent afternoon.
The visitor, a Ugandan American woman, had seen an article in Uwadiae’s publication about a training program for small businesses in Columbus. She wanted to know how to apply for her bakery, she explained.
Uwadiae, who was a political reporter in Nigeria before immigrating to the U.S. more than a decade ago, directed her to the application website and then helped her edit the submission before she turned it in.
“A lot of times when I go out for (reporting), people ask, how do you do this? How do you do that?" Uwadiae, who gesticulates and smiles often as he talks, told The Dispatch. "I say, I don’t know, but I will refer you (to someone who knows).”
It is Uwadiae’s personal touch as a networker, in part, that has given The New Americans Magazine a reputation as a news source for — and by — central Ohio’s myriad immigrant groups. While other immigrant-run local news outlets exist — such as Ohio Somali TV on YouTube and the Nepali-language Jagaran Newspaper in Reynoldsburg — The New Americans Magazine is unique in its breadth, serving readers and writers who originate from Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia and beyond.
Founded in 2016 as a four-page print newsletter — which Uwadiae distributed by hand — the magazine now publishes articles regularly on its website and using WhatsApp, a messaging platform popular among immigrant communities. Uwadiae runs the operation, along with the nonprofit New American Community Information Center, out of a humble office in the basement of a Northland-area office tower.
“(We) identify the needs of new Americans. (With) the bigger publications … their stories are not always addressed to them,” Uwadiae said. “On WhatsApp, we have close to 6,000 (readers) and in the newspaper online, we have close to 10,000.”
Ibrahima Sow, the former chair of the Ohio New African Immigrants Commission, said the magazine is read by various immigrant communities.
“I think (Uwadiae) has capitalized on a kind of gap that has existed,” said Sow, who is Senegalese American. "And he's ... not only writing information about communities, he's going to the Statehouse ... and just broadening our horizons as far ... what civic participation looks like."
The New Americans Magazine is dedicated to immigrant news in Ohio
Uwadiae said that five volunteers regularly contribute articles — including fellow Nigerian Americans Okon Ekpenyong and Taiwo Akinlami.
In addition, the site features a rotating cast of guest authors from around the world.
Although articles are published only in English, they are sometimes drafted in authors’ native languages, according to Uwadiae. For example, he said he sometimes uses Google Translate to convert pieces from Nepali and other languages to English before editing and publishing them.
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The site covers political topics of importance to immigrant communities, such as the Ohio legislature’s vote last year to create a budget for the New African Immigrants Commission. (Prior to the vote, the statewide commission, whose members were appointed in 2017, was the only one of its kind without a budget, The Dispatch also reported.)
The New Americans Magazine also covers a variety of cultural events — from a Macedonian festival in Reynoldsburg last year to recent art shows by Togolese and Bangladeshi artists. Last month, it published an article about the local Sudanese community celebrating their independence day with solemnity this year amidst worry over Sudan’s descent into political instability.
Other pieces feature “news you can use” for immigrants and refugees — such as articles about the green card application process and about a local legal clinic the Senegalese Consulate held for its citizens to update their passports.
For several years running, the publication has also organized a book fair for new American authors; last year’s event was held at the Dublin branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library.
A journalist from Lagos comes to Columbus
Uwadiae cut his teeth covering politics in the early 1990s for Vanguard, a large Nigerian daily newspaper. He later covered aviation and travel.
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Getting Nigerian officials to talk was a real challenge, which Uwadiae contrasted with the relative accessibility of American office-bearers.
“Here, you have access to information … from the government. In Nigeria, they may decide not to give it to you,” said Uwadiae, who recently interviewed Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther for the magazine.
Uwadiae immigrated to the U.S. in 2011 with his wife and three children after they won the Diversity Visa lottery. He applied to work at several mainstream news outlets in Ohio, with no success. He attributes the rejections to shrinking newsroom budgets, his accent and editors’ lack of familiarity with the Nigerian publications for which he’d worked.
Uwadiae got a job at Cheryl’s Cookies in Westerville, then at a Victoria’s Secret warehouse in Columbus. Meanwhile, he completed a one-year broadcast media course, then another course in information technology.
Still determined to make a career in journalism, he started a publication, “The Immigrant,” with a partner in 2014. The partner and he parted ways after two years, and Uwadiae rechristened the publication “The New Americans Magazine.”
Today, the site is made possible through advertising and the dedication of volunteers who submit articles, according to Uwadiae. His nonprofit, which receives grants, also supports related work.
“When our stories impact people, it gives us joy,” he said. “When they respond — when you get the call, you get the request, you get the follow up — those ones really make us proud.”
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As readership continues to grow — especially through the site’s WhatsApp distribution channel — Uwadiae hopes to grow it beyond the central Ohio region.
“We want to be the voice of new Americans — not just in Columbus, everywhere,” he said.
Peter Gill covers immigration, New American communities and religion for the Dispatch in partnership with Report for America. You can support work like his with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America at:bit.ly/3fNsGaZ.
pgill@dispatch.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Nigerian American journalist fills niche role in Columbus
