'Death' for Traditional Journalism?

Some Liberian dailies

There are heated debates ongoing; they regard the fate of traditional journalism. There seems to be growing fear, especially among practitioners, that the revolution of new media might see traditional media (newspapers, televisions, radios) eventually fading into this new trend. It is being argued that new media are opening up new ways to communicate, share knowledge and information as a powerful tool helping to raise new voices, especially from young people, who were once considered the voiceless in their societies.

The Arab Spring – birthed in Tunisia – is seen by many as a testament to the transformative power of social media (new media). Unlike the traditional media, which require professional coverage and production of news stories, with mobile connections, satellite TV, ordinary people can at any time air their views, without having to go through any gatekeeper such as an established publication, editor or other traditional media manager. This is the danger, many believe, social media poses to old or traditional media.


Already, most old or traditional media houses have begun migrating their contents to the web, through the establishment of Internet radio, TV and other multimedia tools, in order to catch up with the exponentially growing Internet or web audience.

However, there are some practitioners of the old media who have strong faith in what the traditional media can deliver. It would be “a shame to forget about actual journalism” in the face of new media, they say. For these folks, there is a future for the traditional media even in the face of new media revolution, especially the social media (Twitter, Facebook, blogs, YouTube, etc).

“It would be a shame if we forget about actual journalism. New media is just another way of gathering and delivering information. And so, we still need the professional journalists who know how to report, investigate and write stories. And whether they do so on radio, in the newspaper or online, I think once we concentrate on that, things will evolve,” IREX's vice president for media, Mark Whitehouse, told me during a 2012 interview held in Tunis, Tunisia. The International Research Exchange Board boss was confident that.

Whitehouse did not shy away from admitting that there is an intense competition between both generations of media. He believes that this competition has more to do with what consumers value as news. “Lots of what we call new media -- blogs, social media -- are very important, but that isn’t journalism. The danger is that the information is not well-researched and facts are not checked. So, we need to find a space for both,” he said.

Everyone is socially connected and networking via this platform

But with at least 10 years worth of professional experience as a journalist, I have come to realize that the traditional approach to Journalism is immensely changing with news reporting becoming a more collaborative and multi-faceted process. The profession has rather become more interactive with the audience/readers becoming a part and parcel of the information gathering and dissemination process. 

Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all other social media tools have turned the globe into a 'borderless' village and the speed with which today’s technology is changing, is something that news media, can barely keep up with. The newspapers are no longer setting the agenda for society by feeding the people with what media houses see fit for dissemination --- simply making information available for public consumption is not enough. Today’s audiences believe they, too, have the power to choose and be able to contribute content and opinions: the social media revolution. 

Yet, I still see no death for traditional journalism in the face of all these transformations. Currently, I am using the print media as a medium through which I tell the stories of others. This medium affords me an opportunity to document and preserve what I narrate to the public, which, for me, is one step in the right direction.  However, the print media in Liberia is also undergoing some tough times, as elsewhere.

The Print Media  

As a newspaper editor, the primary concern in the newsroom has been that the Internet and social media, especially social networking, have continued to seriously affect our industry and how it operates. Most media houses in Liberia currently face a serious crisis --- how to make the news profitable in this digital world.

From a global perspective, newspapers throughout the developed world are suffering from shrinking budgets because most of their readerships are moving to online. So, advertisers are looking less to print and more to online because online advertising is cheaper and more effective in terms of reaching target markets and justifying market budgets. Although the print media in Liberia is experiencing a similar situation of rising cost and shrinking revenues, it has one single commanding advantage that no other media platform has --- the hard copy. With radio and TV, whatever is broadcast today may never be seen again. And it is a very expensive endeavor to attempt to record every broadcast item on radio and TV.

In print, however, record-keeping is much simpler. The hardcopy of the newspaper is a treasure for many, especially in the absence of contemporary history on our society, its people, tradition and culture. Therefore, the print media has its place in Liberia because print represents permanence. This, however, does not mean that the print media is without limitation. Production and distribution of a newspaper is a very time-consuming and expensive affair. The leading newspapers in Liberia print no more than 2000 to 5000 copies daily each and, with the already high costs of production, inaccessibility to markets due to bad roads as well as an adult literacy rate that is estimated at 60.8 percent and  youth (15-24) literacy rate 76.5 percent (UNESCO 2010). These are all factors that limit the strength of newspapers in Liberia.

Now, this is where, I think, digital journalism takes over; by reducing production time and expanding distribution infinitely, through the use of communication technology and the internet. It goes further than that. Digital journalism opens up the platform for a more engaged interaction among individuals from diverse orientations. Unlike the print media, this medium doesn’t limit, for instance, the breaking of news to professionally trained media practitioners. Even citizen journalists can take the lead in covering happenings in their various localities through this medium, digital journalism.  

Digital Journalism

Anyone can easily broadcast him/herself onto the internet 

Liberia, a war-ravaged society, is on the verge of a major development – the long-awaited connection to the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) Cable, which will provide truly high-speed broadband Internet.  This development holds great potential for local innovation to thrive in a nation of people whose primary experience with the Internet is through the mobile phone. 

Unfortunately, in Liberia, the digital divide has continued to expand over the years, especially among journalists. The traditional approach to news gathering and dissemination has continued to remain the order of day. Only a handful of Liberian journalists are even partially exposed to the use of technological innovations that allow efficient gathering and distribution of information to larger audiences. In fact, while many in this category of Liberian media practitioners participate in social media, very few are using the platform to inform and engage the public with news-worthy material. 

For instance, back in 2011, only a few Liberian journalists used Facebook and hardly any used Twitter.  If or when they did, these social media tools were used for socializing and not for journalism. Part of what is responsible for this could be attributed to limited training opportunities afforded journalists in these areas. However, it should not be an excuse.  The power of social media is a catalyst for innovation, citing examples of its transformative impact in the Middle East and North Africa in recent years. The imperatives for breaking Liberian journalists out of the confines of traditional form of reporting news and events cannot be overemphasized. In most cases, words like ‘New and Social Media’ sound extremely strange to most of us.

I attended a workshop in Monrovia, conducted by the Africa Elections Project (AEP) with scores of Liberian journalists. The training was intended to prepare practitioners for effective elections coverage during the October 2011 polls in Liberia. At that session, this question was posed by one of the facilitators: “What is meant by New Media and who knows what Digital Journalism is? What are some of the tools of New Media?” The entire hall went silent for several minutes. No one seemed to know the answer. Fortunately, with my little knowledge in these areas, I was able to give a relatively limited response, which, however, helped to relieve the other participants. This only shows how limited we, as journalists in this infant democracy, are when it comes to Digital Journalism and related fields.

This makes it even more vital for Liberian journalists to be exposed to training opportunities; empowering them to bring different dynamics to the table in terms of how they approach their career as journalists. This, I believes, would pave the way to put our country on par with other countries across the sub-region, Africa and the world in this digital age.

But as it regards the future of traditional journalism, I still think we need the professional journalists --- trained to unearth the story beyond the story. It doesn't matter the medium or platform. Professionalism is what counts the most. This is why I still see no death for old media even in the face of this rapid digital evolution. With little or no access to electricity, deplorable roads, soaring illiteracy rates, limited or no access to the internet, lack of computer knowledge, we still have a long way to go with the old media.

For more on the Liberian media landscape, click here