Media should partner with the academia
Media and academia content partnerships would especially work very well for investigative journalism.
Many news organisations pride themselves for being at the forefront of journalistic excellence and professionalism, exhibiting integrity and accuracy in every item they publish.
Even with the tough economic environment and the uncertainty of the media industry’s sustainability, a good number of Kenyan news organisations have tried their best to remain at the top of their game, professionally, at least.
Recently, we have seen news organisations pivot from breaking news to more analytical, in-depth reporting- what some may call ‘Day Two reporting’ that dives deep into current affairs.
We have also seen some very impressive investigative journalism coming out of Kenyan newsrooms which is commendable, considering the tough environment in which the Kenyan media is operating today.
However, they say the biggest room in the world is room for improvement, which is why I think there is an opportunity that Kenyan media is missing in their quest for offering high-quality journalism.
Content partnerships with academia and research is a central and important source of stories - especially investigative journalism - in media across the world. It is a tried and tested model that has worked for nonprofit news organisations such as The Conversation where academics write important, data-based stories while the editors work with the academics to structure and edit the stories.
Perhaps Kenyan newsrooms could borrow a leaf from The Conversation and consider content partnerships with academia and research institutions to tell data-driven stories from an expert’s point of view.
Now, I am aware that this is already happening in some newsrooms but the point of this piece is that we need this to happen on a larger scale across a wide range of issues from agriculture, business and finance, social issues and health.
These content partnerships would especially work very well for investigative journalism. Investigative reporting, in its very nature, is a tedious, time and resource consuming endeavor that many Kenyan newsrooms can barely afford in these uncertain economic times.
Given the low willingness to pay for news in Kenyan audiences, sometimes the business case for investigative journalism is hard to defend.
A smart strategy that might work for Kenyan newsrooms would be to partner with academic and research institutions to identify main trends in different fields and collaboratively write these stories with the reporters and editors giving these trends a ‘journalistic flair’ to quote The Conversation.
Until recently, the norm in many Kenyan newsrooms has been to come up with story ideas and then seek expert opinion from academia and researchers on that particular topic. This new idea would call for a more expanded conversation, a collaborative venture or a strategic alliance between academia or researchers and the media to bring fresh and well-informed perspectives on important societal issues.
This new form of storytelling would also appeal to the high-brow Kenyan audience that still appreciates a well-researched, data-backed, superbly written 3,000 word long-read. They might be reluctant to pay for it, but maybe such stories could benefit from funding from a few non-profit organisations that fund this kind journalism.
- Dr Chege is a media and technology researcher
