* This is what she said about Sherine Shehata.. Fatna Shaker.. and Maryam Al-Ghamdi
* Khaled Zaree.. Ali Al-Badani.. Abdul Sattar Subaihi Qamat in the history of Saudi Radio
* Where did the medical programs and children's programs disappear?
* For new female broadcasters: Provide information and stay away from superficiality
* I don't listen to the radio right now!
* I spend hours in the library every day to enrich my programs with information that benefits the listeners
The sweetness of her voice accompanied the morning cup of coffee.. The tenderness of her words faltered to delight the ears of her listeners.. Her rich linguistic stock blended with her sincere feeling.. to make a beautiful day for the listeners of her morning programs on Radio Jeddah.
"Good morning… morning of joy… morning of happiness… morning of good tidings… morning of smile… morning of optimism… morning of everything beautiful in your life… stay with us for two hours with the good news of the morning."
“Mama Jawaher” .. the most famous name of the veteran broadcaster whose career spanned 52 years, which she spent in the radio corridors and program studios as a presenter, program presenter, screenwriter and radio actress .. She is Jawaher Siraj Banna.
* You became known on the radio as “Mama Jawaher.” What does this name mean to you?
** “Mama Jawaher” means everything beautiful in my life to me. It means to me my children who were brought up by me, including male and female broadcasters.. male and female directors.. actors and actresses.. The word “Mama Jawaher” means a lot to me, and I feel that it is closest to my heart.
* A journey and a history full of achievements.. For the new generation, who are Jawaher Banna?
** A broadcaster, actress and screenwriter. She has worked at Radio Jeddah since its inception, and has practiced her radio work for more than 52 years. She is very passionate about her work and loves reading. I consider myself an avid reader. Active and continuous, I am fortunate because I am a student of the greatest professors and directors who have gone through the history of radio in Saudi Arabia since its inception.
* How did your parents accept your work as a broadcaster in your early days?
** At the beginning of my radio work, some of my relatives boycotted me, but my father, “may God have mercy on him,” was an educated and understanding person who always discussed with us and directed us. We were sent as children to Cairo to learn, and when my mother died we returned to Saudi Arabia, during that period the late King Faisal bin Abdulaziz ordered By opening schools for the primary stage, but I was a stage ahead of those of my age in education, being in the secondary stage, so I had to sit at home and occupied my time with reading, and when I worked on the radio and presented various and useful programmes, the relatives’ view began to change, and they began to understand and accept the nature of my work, and even began to share with me With useful ideas and suggestions for my programs.
* How did you apply for the job.. Who nominated you?
** I entered the radio station by chance. Our house was next to the radio station in the Al-Kandara neighborhood in Old Jeddah, and my father had friendships with those in charge of it, including the Fouad Shaker family, “may God have mercy on him,” who knows how much I love and passion for reading, so he told me, Jawaher, tomorrow at 10 am you will go I was 17 years old at the time, and when I heard the word “radio” this bright word, I was happy and went the next day, accompanied by my father, to the radio building.
It was a small studio, in front of me was a small table with a piece of paper with the text on it, a glass with a red light on it, and behind the glass stood the director and the recording engineer. And after I submitted the audition, I was accepted immediately because of the way I delivered and the smoothness and smoothness of my Arabic language letters, so I did not submit any papers and I was accepted immediately.
How did you hone your broadcasting skills?
** The majority of my education was on my own, especially since at that time there were no institutes or institutions that sponsored and trained broadcasters. I began to teach myself by myself and my talent began to hone with experience. When we presented a program that was not live at the time, the programs were recorded, and when I return home and my radio program begins I record it and listen to it several times, to know my mistakes, and where I failed in order to learn and not repeat the mistake.. And so on, not to mention the instructions and directives of the great professors with whom I had the honor to work, such as Khaled Zaree, Ali Al-Badani, Abdul Sattar Subaihi, “may God have mercy on them.”
* What are the most important programs that you presented during your career over the course of half a century?
** The first program I presented was the “Al-Bayt Al-Saeed” program. I recorded it at 10 am and returned home. At evening on the same day, they asked me to return to the radio building to record the program “Al-Masaa Newspaper” with Professor Salwa Al-Hujailan.
My house was next to the radio station. One day, Professor Muhammad Haidar Sheikh came to me and said to me: We want you to act. I told him: No.. I do not know how to act in a radio series, so he said in a strict tone: “You will act me!”
Indeed, the next day I went to the radio, and for the first time I met Amin Qattan, Khaled Zaree, Ali Al-Badani, Abd al-Sattar Subaihi, Muhammad Tawfiq, and the director was Muhammad Haidar Sheikh, with whom I participated in the starring of the series “Crime in the Desert”, and from here I started my career in radio acting. And I started to enter the fields of presentation and acting, and after a year had passed, people started repeating my name, Jawaher Banna.
* Who were the most important female colleagues in the profession during that period? How would you describe the fellowship relationship with them?
** The female broadcasters who were with me in my beginnings, Dr. Fatna Amin Shaker and Salwa Al-Hujailan, are the founders and friends of the beautiful time. After them came Najat Al-Awwad and Sherine Shehata, “May God have mercy on her.” My soulmate, we were more than sisters, there was a great rivalry between us, but “honorable”, each of us tries to present the best that she has, after which Maryam Al-Ghamdi moved to Radio Riyadh, and she built her glory there, and I still remember her and she reminds me of all the best.
* A word you address to fellow beginnings.. to whom? And what do you say to them?
** I say.. “May God have mercy on them,” and they are the ones who taught me the ABC of radio and I learned from them. Khaled Zare’ is a broadcaster, actor, presenter and lyricist. Ali Al-Badani is a broadcaster and actor with whom I presented the radio program “The Sweet and the Bitter” written by the late Ahmed Qandil. This program continued in Broadcasting for 3 and a half years, and due to the popularity of the program, people began to call us by our names, “Zarif and Zarifa”, and I do not forget the great professor Abdel Sattar Subaihi, “actor”, with whom I have a relationship of fellowship and brotherhood, may God have mercy on them all. I also owe credit to Hassan Al-Toukhi, and Muhammad Haidar Sheikh who guided me and I learned a lot from them.
* In the box of memories.. What is the most beautiful of them?
** My best memories are the first day I joined the radio.. an unforgettable day.. that made me and changed the course of my life.. on the radio I reaped my successes.. from the love of the listeners and carrying the message of the homeland, just as the radio made me meet my life partner and the father of my children, which are the most beautiful memories.
* A professional fellowship that culminated in your marriage to the broadcaster and director Abdulaziz Shukri.. Would you tell us about it?
** Abdulaziz Shukri “Abu Thamer” is my husband, the love of my life and a colleague of my profession. He got to know me on the radio, and we were the first radio marriage at that time, and they celebrated us on the radio greatly. He was a broadcaster and director and I am a broadcaster, and currently I live the most beautiful moments of my life with my children, grandchildren and granddaughters.
* Nostalgia always takes you to the old lanes of Mecca.. Why?
** Mecca is my love..although I lived in it at times when we used to come during the school holidays, by virtue of living and studying in Cairo, I found in Mecca, its sides, its lanes, and its people bonding, harmony, love, and racing for goodness and help before asking for it. In Mecca, I lived the sweet soul and pure souls. For the people of Mecca, family does not mean father, mother, uncles, and aunts. You feel that the residents of the neighborhood are your family, so for me, it is love and nostalgia.
* How were you communicating with listeners at that time?
** The only method of communication with the listeners was faxes, and also by Saudi mail we received letters from the listeners, most of which came to us from Makkah and Taif, some with envelopes embroidered with pearls and beads, as an expression of the listeners' interaction with our programs, it was a beautiful and tangible communication from our dear listeners.
In the past, people used to love the radio, especially in Ramadan after breakfast, and I had several programs at that time, which made me a mass base of listeners who began to contact me at a later period on my home phone, to express their observations and suggestions, I discuss ideas with them and accept their constructive criticism, what a beautiful Who communicated.
* What is your relationship with the current communication sites, and are you present on them?
** I am familiar with it, but I do not have accounts on it. I watched it and did not like it, although its name is “Communication”, but it bears the characteristics of cutting, pasting and transferring messages.. so it does not show your true feelings, and therefore it loses its most important feature, which is real, tangible, effective communication.
* Between television, cinema, YouTube, and means of communication, where is the radio located now?
** I find the radio now everywhere, the TV you sit in front of to watch it and the cinema you go out of your house and buy a ticket to watch a movie, but the radio is with you everywhere; In the car, in the office, and even when shopping, you can listen to the radio on your mobile phone. The radio is now with you wherever you go. What is important is what we offer on the radio.
* You became famous for your morning programs.. What do you think about morning programs on the radio now?
** I see that many radio programs have become superficial and their content is weak, and the loud listening to them is caused by the songs!
I used to be on the radio when I prepared a specific programme. I visited the library daily, searching and examining for hours about the useful and valuable information that I would present to the listeners. I searched the references for everything that concerns the family and the social and cultural affairs in order to enrich my programmes. I also reviewed the newspapers in search of any useful information, to simplify it and make it smooth on the ear. listeners.
As for the radio programs now, their content is fragile, and they are dominated by clamor, fast songs, superficial words, and fast rhythm.. So, unfortunately, I do not follow radio programs at the moment.
* What is your comment on the new female broadcasters.. and what do you say to them?
** We know and are fully aware that times have changed and we have become in a time of speed and a time that has its modern features.. The current radio field has changed and developed and some of it has become specialized, not to mention the technology that has facilitated their work now, but I advise them to derive useful, rich and purposeful information to present it to the listeners, you as a broadcaster carry a message You must provide society with what is useful, and be a partner in the construction and development of your country.
* The Audiovisual Commission and its recent organizations… What is expected of them?
** To restore the radio to its glory.. A question I put to the officials in it, “Why did they neglect the radio”? He made it a youth radio station, “We are not different.” But… what is your real development for the radio station to keep pace with Vision 2030, like other sectors? Where are the talk radio, cultural and educational programs?! Why did medical programs and children's programs disappear? Not to mention the disappearance of radio drama… while the rest of it suffers from a state of weakness and decline, although it has the most impact on society.
* What programs do you like to your heart?
** Morning signs, open day, morning break, evening garden, evening leaves. All of them were recorded, after which the live broadcast began on Radio Jeddah, and among the programs that are close to my heart and left an imprint on the listeners is the program “Sabahak Ya Watani”.
* What are your latest works?
** The last work I presented was the series “And Hope Remains”, two years ago, in the blessed month of Ramadan. A drama series based on a real-life story of a Saudi family that was forced by work conditions to separate the spouses in two different cities.
A final word for the listeners?
** I say to them, “I miss you,” and I wish I would go back to meet you, and your remarks and criticisms caress my ears. Very, very, very much, “I miss you.” Thank you.
Sarah Al-Otaibi (Jeddah) @sarahalotaibi9 Photo: Omar Hassan @Omar_00005