The disruption, members of the Fourth Estate, we need to talk

Journalism at work

Journalism at work during the recent General Election. 

Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group

During the press conference to announce NOKIA being acquired by Microsoft, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop ended his speech by saying “we didn’t do anything wrong, but somehow, we lost”.

Upon this conclusion, he and the entire management team publicly wept. Perhaps that’s where we need to start our conversation.

The media industry across the globe is changing by the day and when the music changes so does the dance. This simply means that journalists must rethink and position themselves with the changing times.

Otherwise, the words of the Nokia CEO might just be a script too familiar to many in the industry. Recently, trending topics of massive layoffs and pay cuts in the mainstream media have received mixed reactions online.

The question that many have been asking is, how did we get here?

Let’s face it. The digital disruption has fundamentally upended the business of the media globally and Kenya has not been spared either. Going by the Digital 2022 report, the digital space in the media cannot be ignored.

Data show that there were 23.35 million internet users in Kenya in January 2022 and Kenya’s internet penetration rate stood at 42.0 percent of the total population at the start of 2022.

Internet users increased

Kepios (An organization that helps the world make sense of what people are really doing online) analysis indicates that internet users in Kenya increased by 1.6 million (+7.4 per cent) between 2021 and 2022.

These numbers in the digital space are growing by the hour and this has given the mainstream media quite a beating. The traditional media is now competing with the digital media when it comes to advertisement revenue and this is not interesting for the mainstream/traditional media.

This explains why many media houses are now restructuring in order to give their digital platforms the attention that they had missed. The future looks digital! Actually, The Entertainment and Media industry (E&M) report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) shows that digital advertising will account for 79.7 percent of the industry’s total revenue by 2026 in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa.

Last year, the (E&M) report showed that revenues from internet advertising increased by Sh7 billion from 2020 to hit Sh17 billion while TV advertising generated revenue of Sh11 billion.

The fact is that the traditional media in Kenya is in for tough times as advertisement revenue drops.

Generate content

Journalists must go beyond the call of duty and generate content that stands out in order to attract partners. I am deliberate here with the word ‘partner’ because many times the media talks of ‘sponsors’ and ends up compromising the editorial content because of commercial interests. Remember, whoever pays, says.

Back to the journalists who unfortunately happen to be on the receiving end. In every journalism class, emphasis is put on 5Ws and H (Who was involved? What happened? When did it happen? Where did it happen? Why did it happen, and how it happened). Trust me, to survive in today’s media industry it will take more than that.

“To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did. José N. Harris”

For the media houses, this is the right time to align with the changing times in order to stay afloat. Numbers don’t lie. Media houses need to rethink their digital strategy and pay attention to the obstacles and challenges as they explore alternative sources of revenue.

Only the most innovative may survive the disruption. Charles Darwin (Naturalist) could not have said it in a better way, “It is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself.”

Elijah Mwangi is a communications consultant www.elijahmwangi.com