City People Magazine Interviews Stella Dimoko-korkus : Linda Ikeji Is Just A Blogger,I Am A Journalist That Blogs

Stella Dimokokorkus is one of the popular bloggers online that many naija celebrities rely on for quality gists. So popular is her blog that many celebrities wake up every morning to go on her site to read all the gists she has for them. And what drives traffic to her site is the hot gists she serves day in day out. She is Bold.....

She is daring and she has broken so many exclusives over the last 10 years or more. What thrills many readers is how Stella who lives in Germany with her husband and kids keeps breaking exclusive stories about happenings in Nigeria from her base. Last week, Stella who hardly talks about herself and her life opened up to City People Publisher SEYE KEHINDE about the mystery lady called Stella. Below are excerpts of the interview.

How has it been running a popular blog from Germany?

It’s not easy but the returns are great and besides, I am doing what i love to do. So I am not complaining in anyway whatsoever.

How did you come up with the idea? How many years ago?

I started as a print journalist and opened my first blog years back but I didn’t go far cos I lost it and then I started the one I currently have now but I could not update it because it was clashing with my day job and sometime in 2013 I had to make a choice between becoming my own boss and going online fully or staying with print..I saw print was slowly free falling. Print had become boring for me as well and one could not update a breaking news because the paper could only be birthed once a week. The slowness was killing my vibes and my stories and my hot print stories were being lifted online without due credit, it was all messed up and then something dramatic happened that helped me make up my mind..it was not really planned to switch over fully, it just happened and I don’t regret it..

Can you tell us what prepared you for your transition to the new media?

I crossed over with my wealth of experience from the print.I had good teachers..My former Boss Kunle Bakare, Azuh  Arinze who has birthed YES international magazine and Michael Effiong of ovation. Those guys had a well of knowledge and i tapped.

Anyone who has worked for Kunle Bakare will agree with me that when you come on board his team, you have a choice of bending, breaking or surviving against all odds. He pushes you to become the best.

How did coming from a print background help or not help you in your pursuit of running your blog?

Like I said coming from print where i had battled with challenges prepared me for online which is even tougher. Print media is child’s play compared to blogging and hey if I survived the child’s play, blogging wasn’t going to defeat me. It wasn’t easy in the beginning, OMG, it still isn’t but wearing the same shoe every day helps you find a walking pattern.

Tell us how you run your typical day? How often do you post stories? How many hours do you spend online daily?

My typical day starts at 5am..well that has been my routine since i had my first son….he was a crying baby and I learnt how to stay awake with him, it stuck and so helps me now. I post stories as often as they come and when I say as often i mean as often as it takes me to finish composing a story or culling and editing ,enabling comments and moving on to the next post. Trust me on a good day I spend all day online but the beauty of it is that my mac has wireless internet and its small so I have it in my bag always and even when I am out, I can comfortably blog from where ever I am if I find a good spot.

Do you see it as a job or leisure?

Oh I see it as both, A job because I get to extinguish my writing passion, leisure because it helps me relax, I make money from it and I LOL all day from funny comments on my blog…..It is awesome.

How do you source for news?

I am sorry I cannot tell you how I source for News, you are a seasoned Journalist and i was thought that you do not give away how or who helps you source info..I will pass this question.

Your blog is hot in terms of stories. How do you cope with the reactions and backlash?

YES, my blog is hot  and I thank God because I have just been blogging a few years and I have managed to catch up in the race. Reactions and backlash was not so easy to handle in the beginning and because of my fight back personality, I got it all controversially messed up but that is sorted out now, I know how to handle the reactions and I turn my bum and give it up for the backlash. I enjoy sensational news and that doesn’t come drama free.

How do you see competition in the industry especially between you and Linda?

Competition is good if it is healthy…..I wonder why her name keeps tagging along my progress..its probably because she started blogging before me and some certain school of thought was formed that the blogsphere is owned by her blog..i guess my blog and a few others have broken down that theory to nought……like i said competition is good if it is healthy and the sky is big enough for everyone.

What is your assessment of Linda Ikejis blog? What is the difference between what you do and what she does?

My assessment of her blog? why would I want to assess another person’s blog when there is work on the table to be done? I pop into her spot once in a while. But I have so many ideas on my own that I don’t have time to be idle.

We are two different blogs and even though we might sometimes blog same news our content is different, I pour myself into my blogging style because I am one of those persons who believe that if it must be done, it must be done right irrespective of the backlash, I do not pretend and I am not threatened by anything…I have built a small community with what i do..I speak passionately against domestic violence, my blog is a voice for the voiceless, for the discarded in society and for the sick and helpless…i have something of a Stellas list which i fear to compare to craigslist, I named it in house news and  there we sell, buy, fight, show love and all. I have also built something called chronicles where stories are told and hearts are poured out….infact call my blog the Jack of all trade on the internet and you would be right.

There will always be a difference between our blogs, I am a journalist who blogs and she is a blogger… i blog with my wealth of experience from Journalism which is different from what she does. We are two different people with different ideas which we pour out on our platforms. There is no threat whatsoever.

As a pioneer? how do you see the growth of the social media industry?

The social media right now is like an unstoppable virus but a good one. It has opened up an avenue for people to empower themselves and make money to get info and come out of their ignorant spot and has given voiceless people a voice…I am not a pioneer of the social media, I only just got here but trust me when I say that in a few years, the print would be dead totally social media has come to stay despite its ups and downs. Those who are left behind will soon jump on board cos they will have no choice.

How does your husband see or view what you do?

He is cool with it and helps me out when he is free from his busy job. He helps me source for interesting stories online and send me the links to read and see if i can cull.

Your name is controversial. Did you do it deliberately?

Hmm!!…my name is controversial alright but i didn’t plan on it and I don’t do it deliberately. I think its my personality. I am a confrontational person and I never let a bait walk on by. I like challenges and always take it up…so that’s how it started.

Tell us about the mystery woman Stella. Who is she? Where was she born? Which schools did she attend? What course did you study?

Which mystery woman? I am Stella, is there a mystery surrounding me? I am surprised you said that, OMG I have a big mouth and say what I have to say, so no mystery, I guess this might have sprouted from the fact that I choose to protect my hubby and kids from the social media…..lol.

I was born in Lagos and attended all schools in Lagos but went on to the University of Benin to school and graduated from the class of Linguistics with English as reference.. I left that beautiful school with a 3rd class degree and with tears in my eyes but I was a victim of sexual victimization and I couldn’t do anything about it…I left even happy that I wasn’t given a Pass but I swore to fight hard to become somebody….

I hope that where ever those lecturers are today, my success in what I do has shown them that it is only God who can bless, it is only God who increases. I still look at my degree which i have upped by going to school here, I look at it and I laugh and return it to its folder and every time I mouth the words….GOD NO DE SLEEP”

Where have you worked? How did you end up in journalism?

Encomium magazine…how did I end up here? let me tell you a story bout me..when I was growing up, writing stinkers to friends every time we fell out was my specialty, I am sure if they see this they will laugh cos an old friend and i discussed it the other day and she said I was still the same person from those stinker days and my writing style didn’t change…..i used to write so much that if anyone and I quarrelled, a memo would surely follow.

As I grew, I used to read RMD’S late wife. I loved her column and loved what she did ,she was where I had my gaze.

After my third class degree, I sat down one day ,frustrated from not getting a bank job and I turned my head and there was lying a copy of hints magazine, I picked it up to read and ran into a page advertising for writers…my friend and I looked at each other and she dialled the number and gave it to me. 

I got an appointment for an interview that same week and I went there and that was the beginning of my writing journey…..difference with hints and encomium was that, at hints, I was paid to write make-a-believe stories. At Encomium you get yourself out here and get the real stories……..I liked Encomium better cos it afforded me meeting stars

How did you end up in Germany? You have lived there for how long? Tell us about your husband and kids.

How did I end up here in Germany….I got married to the sweetest man on earth and had no choice but to relocate, that’s what happened

I packed my bags and relocated to the diaspora in 2004,do the maths..lol

My husband is a wonderful person but he is fiercely private and I have to respect that….he loves what I do but he doesn’t have the strength for all the drama because he holds a sensitive position at his day Job, he doesn’t want my spotlight at all..so I respect that and leave him out of everything. keeping my kids out of the social media is my choice.

There is really not much to tell because I won’t tell much. I know how it is putting info out there because I am a journalist…..

My hubby Stefan is a wonderful man  and he loves Nigeria and Nigerians, loves to eat Egusi soup and Okro when I manage to cook it.

How old is your husband?how long have you been married?

Oh Stefan my hubby is in his 40’s and we have been married  since 2003.

Thank you for the interview.

Thank you too Mr Seye….

Culled from citypeople Magazine website.