She is beautiful, intelligent, hardworking, probing and has an undying passion in literally reciting the good old poem: ‘Good better best. May I never rest, until my good is better and my better, best.’
Poised for success and perfection, if you see her in the newsroom at her desk taking an unwavering stare at her phone with her earphones tucked into her ears, she is oftentimes learning pronunciation of words. What’s more, she spends time listening and watching both local and international news anchors.
She strives to polish her voice to be as outstanding as that of Radio Ghana’s Mercy Sowah and to master the unflinching confidence and interviewing skills of Aljazeera’s Jane Dutton.
“I always see my viewers/listeners as an intelligent group of people who deserve the best from me,” she would tell me.
Grace Hammoah Asare is the name and the new face on Ghana’s leading television network, TV3. She anchors News@10 on weekends and News in Brief on weekdays. As her self-acclaimed manager, I monitor her as though she is my daughter.
“When you see my message or call, relax. Remember, I have promised you not to be a sycophant but only your watchdog,” I tell Grace.
From messages of compliments people send her via WhatsApp and other social media platforms, it is clearly obvious that I am not the only person happy seeing Grace Hammoah Asare climb higher the career ladder.
If she happens to anchor Midday Live on TV on Sundays, her church― led by the pastor― would urge they close early. Why? Right in the church, they would mount a television set and watch their own read the news. Is this not beautiful?
On Sundays when News@10 has to be rescheduled way beyond 10:30pm due to the ongoing Ghana’s Most Beautiful, Grace still has loyal viewers staying tuned to TV3 to watch her read the news. This is the level of support Grace’s church and many Ghanaians are giving to the promising news anchor.
Who could have thought that that young girl who did her secondary education at Wesley Grammar School will someday be the one reading to the nation the news we yearn for? Such is life!
Grace has been a close friend since our days at Ghana Institute of Journalism. She was my senior, I must say. When she joined Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom’s then First Digital TV (now GN TV) as a national service person, she had it at the back of her mind not to despise such a platform. She was determined to make a mark there. Truly, her hard work got her employment there. She worked for some months before joining Media General [owners of TV3, 3FM, Onua FM, Connect FM, Akoma FM and 3news.com].
For her two year stay so far with Media General, Grace Asare’s unique style of presentation is doubling her admirers. So, what is this style about?
“Solomon, aside my busy schedule, I do make time to read. Larry King in his book ‘How to Talk to Anyone, Anywhere’ got me my winning formula. ‘To be a good speaker, you must be a good listener. Good follow-up questions are the mark of a good conversationalist,” Grace says. “Dale Carnegie will tell you that to be interesting, be interested.”
Though this might seem that simple, it’s never simple to many interviewers. To be able to elicit good follow-up questions is a full topic for another discussion. This is the craft the young woman is mastering.
A friend of mine, Augustina Yeboah, once asked me: “How old is Grace? I mean TV3’s anchor. She appears young but mature enough in what she does. I’ve watched her squeeze all the needed answers from her interviewees.”
Indeed, Grace Hammoah Asare is steadily rising. But, she is not rising to the top on a silver platter. She is a ‘rebel’ who, at times, fights her comfort to push forward her dreams. On one Friday, she came to work at dawn. When she closed, she was instructed to sit in for the News@10 anchor, Stephen Anti. This meant she had to stay at work till after 10:30pm.
While she read the news that day, a friend phoned me. I was at home.
“Are you watching your girl?” he asked.
“Yes,” I replied.
“Why is she blinking her eyes too much tonight?” he asked again.
I had not taken notice of that. When Grace paused the news for a commercial break, I called her to ask why.
“Charley, you can’t believe I’m feeling sleepy,” she said.
“Ajala! [comic exclamation]. Please, 30 minutes will elapse soon and you’ll be done. Finish hard. I’m waiting to say to you that ‘you did it’.”
Here was a young lady rebelling against nature. Many young folks, of our generation, would have picked their bags and left the office when told to do extra hours.
If you ever heard her name or voice on 3FM [92.7], you were not mistaken. Grace Asare combines radio with television. She partly does the 6am news on radio as well reads the Business News on Newshour [6pm news] on 3FM.
Grace is workaholic who makes sure the job is done and dusted before she says ‘goodbye’. When she’s off work, however, she relaxes.
She keeps telling me she aspires to be an international brand. In the near future, when Grace Hammoah Asare becomes a household name as TV3’s Alfred Ocansey and a few others, do not envy. She worked hard for it.
The only question I keep asking myself ahead of such a day in her life is, “Can Ghana really contain a ‘Hurricane Grace’ considering the momentum she is gathering?”
By Solomon Mensah
The writer is broadcast journalist with Media General [3FM/TV3/3news.com]. Views expressed here are solely his and do not, in anyway, reflect the editorial policy of his organisation.
Email: nehusthan4@yahoo.com
Twitter: @Aniwaba