Social sites change how media operates

In an unexpected turn of events, the giant American cable network, CNN, was on March 10, forced to pull a story depicting a single explosion in Nairobi as an eruption of violence in Kenya. 

The trigger was a backlash from Kenyans on the micro-blogging sites Twitter and Facebook. A few hours later, its Nairobi-based reporter David McKenzie apologised on Twitter, saying that though his reporting “was accurate,” the banner used in the bulletin was not.

“I contacted CNN for future bulletins. Apologies to all,” he wrote back. The CNN moment is a classic example of how the business of news reporting is taking a different direction. 

Increasing access to high-speed Internet by millions of people globally and the prevalent use of social media is changing some of the fundamental strategies that mainstream media has been using for decades.

Greatest news moment

The Internet, and the fact that it has been able to converge text message, images, audio, and video, while enhancing new ways of interacting, has allowed audiences to easily — and freely — receive and access information faster than ever, relegating the role of traditional media to near obsoleteness.

In fact, three of the 2011 greatest news moments — Mohamed Bouaziz’s self-immolation in Tunisia which triggered the uprising in the Arab world, the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by the Americans, and the Japanese Tsunami — were not broken by the mainstream media but social media.

This trend is also definitely causing a shift in the business of news gathering in Kenya as new actors, mainly in the form of citizen journalists, come into play.

Citizen journalism, with its loose network of reporters who are able to break stories and pass information from the ground, have been changing the way traditional news media houses in Kenya gather and relay news.

“As versatile new actors using unconventional online platforms develop themselves and attract an increasing share of public attention, established media will try to respond and catch up,” says Ms Sasha Kinney, an advising consultant for Picha Mtaani and Pawa254 on movement-building and social enterprise management.

“They will certainly lose some market share to innovative and savvy online enterprises that can really capitalise on social media content and other crowd-sourcing methods of news gathering.”

Both Pawa254, a collaborative social hub for creative youngsters and citizen journalists, and Picha Mtaani, a street photo exhibition aimed at encouraging the youth to become agents of reconciliation through photography, base their foundation on creating youth networks on the ground.

Information and Communications permanent secretary Bitange Ndemo believes that social media is an important platform that can facilitate and embolden traditional media by helping them identify important stories.

“Citizen journalism is there to flag and give traditional media direction. News is disclosed in social media and mainstream media is expected to clarify the issue — whether it is a complete fabrication or not,” said Dr Ndemo.

The issue of clarification emerged in mid-February when rumours surrounding the death of then Cabinet minister John Michuki and former MP Njenga Karume surfaced online.

Mainstream newspapers and television stations clarified that it was an ailment, and not the death of the two politicians, as the Twitter feeds reported, besides systematically updating readers and viewers on the latest information.

This was a good example of how professional media can change the content and nature of its reporting to be more inclusive and responsive.

“As social media usage grows, crowd-sourcing will increasingly ensure accuracy, just because of the sheer numbers,” said Ms Kinney. “I would hope that, with practical experience, traditional media gets better at using this content.”

Television programming

Use of social media is just one of the ways in which change is taking place within the media industry in Kenya. With a rise in the number of television channels and the deadline to switch from analogue to digital looming by June 2012, television programming has come up as one of most vital sectors to tap in Kenya.

The transition to digital, which will free channel frequency allocations, will create stiff competition among media houses as they strategise on how best to reach a much more fragmented audience and provide content that attracts advertisers.

This, industry leaders say, will relegate the significance given to news information over other media content, shifting focus to a broader mindset that involves overall channel programming.

“News is just but an element, just one component, one core in a bigger wheel,” said Mr Linus Gitahi, the group CEO of Nation Media Group. “It is going to be about the total programming. And the company that packages them the best carries the day.”

The move will also boost aggregation of local content, which has proved popular with television audiences.

“This will give a boost to local content and media houses will need to understand how best to manage this transition,” said Dr Ndemo. “Once you isolate and know your audience, you can begin to address it effectively.”

Entry of international television stations in Kenya will also alter how local media stations will inform audiences as these global stations narrow their reporting to reach people on the ground.

So far, China Central Television has set up its head office in Africa in Kenya, with Al Jazeera Kiswahili due early next year, according to sources.

Al Jazeera English’s use of social media and crowd-source platforms has also been able to give it an edge to cover the East African region at a more in-depth level.

Its partnership with Kenyan-based non-profit software development firm, Ushahidi, last year created “Somalia Speaks”, which was dubbed the first informal citizen survey conducted on Somalia by any establishment since the civil war started in 1991.

“Our increasing new media involvement in the region is part of Al Jazeera’s objective in voicing the voiceless,” said Mr Soud Hyder, web and social media manager at Al Jazeera. “Understanding the region and increasing engagement gives us a better idea of what our audience wants.”

Mobile media

One of the most interesting features to watch in local media management is the audience’s infusion into creating their own platforms to access and generate information.

Abayima, a project which aims to turn SIM cards into publishing platforms, is currently being experimented on by a group of programmers, who hope to make low-end feature phones cheap e-readers.    

“There are four billion people with feature phones and not smartphones in the world,” said Mr Ahmed Mohamed Maawy, lead technical adviser of the project.

“This means you can make information accessible to a larger demographic who can’t access a television, a smartphone, or who don’t have a laptop or a computer.”

Abayima was first tested as a covert project during the 2011 Ugandan elections by the staff of the software development company, Hive Colab.

Mr Maawy says that with the right mechanisms in place, Abayima SIMs can be distributed as a green, alternative printing press to share information, especially during media blackouts in a country or when other mainstream channels have been blocked.

Information providers, he said, can decide to ride on a network provider or one can modify the storage device and its capacity to distribute content, which means that you use the phone as a publishing tool.

“It will revolutionise the way people share information. There is basically no restriction on an overall basis,” Maawy asserted.

Bright future

If any of the above dynamics are anything to go by, the media industry in Kenya is experiencing a major revolution that could shape it for the better.

Whether it is on social media, where statistics from consultancy agency, Portland Communications, recently ranked Kenya as the second most active country in Africa on Twitter after South Africa, or in media technology innovation, the changing dynamics in the media environment in Kenya is sure to create a ripple effect that is going to have an impact in the long run.

Besides, given the limited capacity of professional media agencies in Kenya to cover news instantly, and with the entry of resource-rich international news networks, it will be interesting to see how the situation unfolds in coming years.

The impact will also closely affect media schools in the country, which will have to invest wisely in their curriculum to train flexible, global-minded journalists.

“This will mean more job opportunities for journalism graduates which will also force media trainers to up their game to remain relevant and on top,” said Mr Isaiah Cherutich, a journalism lecturer at the United States International University.

Success in media advertising in the future will also depend on the diversity of platforms and how media houses will be able to get to audiences.