Doing Digital Media in Africa Prospects, Promises and Problems
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DOING DIGITAL MEDIA IN AFRICA PROSPECTS, PROMISES AND PROBLEMS Edited by Francis Mdlongwa DOING DIGITAL MEDIA IN AFRICA PROSPECTS, PROMISES AND PROBLEMS Edited by Francis Mdlongwa © 2009 Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without written permission of the publisher, except in the context of reviews. Published by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Johannesburg South Africa Layout and Design by Brian Garman ISBN 9780868104546 Printed in Port Elizabeth, South Africa by CADAR printers CONTENTS Foreword: African media plots future in digital era .................................. Frank Windeck ........................... 4 Editor’s note: Digital era unleashes ambiguity and uncertainty ......... Francis Mdlongwa .................... 5 01 The changing media ecosystem: what Africa needs to know ........ Guy Berger ................................... 6 02 Mobile media for Africa ................................................................................ Churchill Otieno ...................... 14 03 How African traditional media can tap into new media ................... Dave Duarte ............................ 22 04 The money game: a South African perspective ................................... Riaan Wolmarans .................. 32 05 New media: where is radio going in Africa? .......................................... David Smith ............................. 40 06 From “now” to “next” ..................................................................................... Guy Berger ................................ 46 07 Exotic Mauritius catches up on new media ........................................... Subash Gobine ........................ 64 08 What news? Uganda’s media struggle to stay relevant .................... Sim Kyazze ............................... 74 09 How media convergence is transforming newsmaking ................... Jimi Matthews ........................ 84 10 Ghana eyes mobile telephony in digital transformation .................. John Yarney ............................. 88 11 Ivory Coast launches e-kiosk as it enters digital era ........................... Barthelemy Kouame .............. 94 12 No jet ski, please .............................................................................................. Matthias Hufmann .............. 102 Contributors ................................................................................................................................................................. 108 KAS and Sub-Sahara Africa Media Programme .......................................................................................... 116 Sol Plaatje Institute for Media Leadership ................................................................................................... 116 4 African media plots future in digital era Media management all over the world faces new challenges every day. For the last few years in particular, one media disaster news headline has followed another. Newspaper circulations have dropped sharply and, in some instances, collapsed altogether; newspaper readers have suddenly deserted in droves and migrated online and advertisers have taken their money elsewhere as the media industry faces a moment of truth. The more difficult the situation today’s media has faced, the more important it has become for the industry to have a proper analysis on what’s going on so that adequate solutions for survival can be found. Which is why the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung’s (KAS) Media Programme and Rhodes University’s Sol Plaatje Institute for Media Leadership (SPI) decided to focus on “Doing Digital Media in Africa” during their latest Africa Media Leadership Conference held in Uganda’s capital Kampala in May 2008. Embracing digital media by newspapers and other ‘old media’ might not provide all the solutions to all the problems faced by media managers these days, but the new platforms certainly provide opportunities that could help the media’s financial bottom lines. If managed well, digital media can create additional income, more customers and new ways of distribution which could contribute to extended media freedom. Unfortunately, some of Africa’s media leaders have already been left behind by the digital media technologies. The leaders face a plethora of challenges: slow internet connections, if any at all; weak technological equipment; and low multimedia skills among their workforces. And all this is happening when other parts of the world are racing ahead with the faced-paced and ever-changing digital media landscape. But this inter-continental digital divide has advantages as well. First, African media leaders have the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others and thus avoid repeating them themselves. Second, they can try and use what is already working in other parts of the world and develop this further. And third, they can compare the useful methods other successful African media have already adopted and introduce these into their own environments. All these and other wide-ranging digital media elements and their impact on traditional media were the focus of the Kampala Conference. They have now been collated into this book. Examples of a converged newsroom from Germany show the potential of what can be achieved, but they also highlight the limitations of concepts from overseas. Working models from African newspapers’ online editions and achievements in the field of social media provide useful tips and tricks for other African countries. And last but not least, this publication broadly examines where the digital media landscape is headed. I would like to thank all the people who made this book possible – Editor Francis Mdlongwa as well as the authors – and I hope that the content adds useful ideas and knowledge which advance the cause of a vibrant and independent African media. Frank Windeck Director of the Sub-Sahara Africa Media Programme Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Johannesburg, South Africa Email: [email protected] Website: www.kas.de; www.kas.de/mediaafrica 5 Digital era unleashes ambiguity and uncertainty Media leaders across the globe are frantically seeking solutions to the challenges of managing ambiguity and uncertainty triggered by the digital era, which threatens to decimate their profitable companies anchored in the old business school. The digital media, dramatised by mobile and online platforms, is increasingly taking away huge audiences and some sizeable advertisers from the ‘old’ media. It is signalling a possible end to an era where media prospered phenomenally through selling eyeballs to advertisers. In some instances, the new technology has even allowed advertisers to by-pass the media altogether to reach audiences directly, thus compounding the survival of newspapers, television stations and radio businesses as we know them today. So the scramble is now on – the scramble to rapidly find new ways of doing business in a media-scape that also offers unprecedented opportunities to those who embrace change. And to do this quickly and without certainty or compass. A selection of Africa’s top media leaders gathered in Uganda’s capital Kampala in early 2008 to try to find answers to a tide that is not only challenging the business model for media, but also re-drawing the very foundations of journalism – journalism’s meaning, purpose and identity in a fast-changing world. Thanks to the sponsorship of Germany’s Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), the leaders exchanged views, ideas and experiences on “Doing Digital Media in Africa: Prospects, Promises and Problems”. This was the eighth annual media summit for Africa hosted by KAS and Rhodes University’s Sol Plaatje Institute for Media Leadership (SPI) since 2002. This wide-ranging and informative anthology is culled from that conference, and it brings out diverse and unique ways that these African media chiefs and their teams are experimenting and innovating to meet tomorrow’s challenges today. This is the second year running that KAS has generously commissioned and published such an anthology in collaboration with the SPI – Africa’s premier media management and leadership institution. I would like to thank all the contributors for their time and critical insights and wisdom. Their compelling stories are an invaluable resource to students, teachers and trainers of media management and journalism, and others who want to track the unfolding march of the new media. Francis Mdlongwa Director of the Sol Plaatje Institute for Media Leadership Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa Email: [email protected] Website: www.spiml.co.za THE CHANGING MEDIA ECOSYSTEM: WHAT AFRICAN MEDIA LEADERS NEED TO KNOW 01 There is a yawning international divide between Africa and developed countries, but that’s no signal for sleepiness! By understanding trends in the USA in particular, media leaders in Africa can prepare for the changes that will come to the continent and pre-empt some of the negative consequences for the industry. In particular, this means grasping how the traditional business models for media are breaking up within the context of the Information Society’s new emerging architecture. The shift of the Web into 2.0 mode, and new news production implications this entails, should be registered. Finally, the Internet will find its way into the Africa media environment via mobile wireless devices like cellphones, and African media leaders should be preparing for this already emerging scenario. By Guy Berger 8 Introduction There is a yawning international divide between Africa and