A case for closer links between media, tech firms

Many might disagree on the “Future of Journalism”, but what we do know and what seems to be working for media, especially from a revenue perspective, is strategic partnerships.

These may take many forms, but one that is emerging to be extremely crucial for both media and journalism training schools is partnerships with technology companies.

Journalists and media practitioners may have a lot to say – and rightfully so – about the tech firms and all their misdeeds, but what remains clear is that journalists and journalism training institutions could benefit from strategic partnerships with these firms.

To start with, we must embrace knowledge sharing between tech companies and media. It is now becoming apparent that journalists and media leaders need to understand technology and its impact on their work at a much deeper level than they did 10 years ago.

Practising journalism and leading news organisations in the age of the fourth industrial revolution – characterised by technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, the internet of things, 3D printing, robotics, and quantum computing – not only requires a basic understanding of these technologies and their impact on journalism, but also how these technologies will change the bottom line of news media.

Therefore, a fundamental area of collaboration is tooling and skilling journalists to enable them to thrive as practitioners in the age of ubiquitous technology. This must go beyond teaching journalists to be data literate.

Consumption habits 

There is need to help media managers, media leaders and even boards of media organisations understand how, for instance, artificial intelligence will impact the business and how to leverage these technologies to better serve stakeholders.

Understanding audiences and consumption habits is at the core of every journalistic endeavour. It takes years, sometimes even decades of research for journalists and media managers to understand the changing tastes in audience consumption. Good, solid research is expensive, time-consuming and labour-intensive.

Tech firms can fund major research projects and work in collaboration with media organisations and journalism schools to research their audiences and design suitable interventions in the form of content offering.

Lastly, tech firms should be encouraged to share their technology with media and local partners and find new use cases for technologies to promote information accessibility in the region.

Tech firms can also work with innovators in these media organisations and expose them to the latest cutting-edge technologies, training and networking opportunities to build much more robust media platforms. This is not to suggest that media abandon the quest for more accountability from tech platforms and their impact to society.

The point is that ties between media and tech should be approached across multiple tracks. It is possible to hold tech companies accountable and still partner with them for social good.

The writer is the Director, Innovation Centre, at Aga Khan University; [email protected]