The Internet is changing how people in Africa and around the world communicate. It has also greatly impacted the way the media operates. In many countries, people are depending less and less on the traditional media (newspapers, magazines, radio, television) for information and communication. Traditional newspaper organisations as well as journalists in Africa and around the world are learning to adapt and come to terms with the new technological reality. While the Internet revolution in Africa is still evolving, it has created opportunities and challenges that are redefining the way newspapers, journalists and the audience access and disseminate information.
This research examines the impact of the digital transition on newspaper journalists in Africa using Nigeria and South Africa as case studies. It reviews the effect and growing importance of the Internet, online newspapers and social media, in shaping the future of print journalism, the newspaper business and audience interaction in both countries. The research argues that new media is redefining journalism in Nigeria and South Africa. It has not only created new kinds of journalists and audience who are no longer passive receptors of news, it has thrown up new business models for the news industry facing severe glut.
The research concludes that this change has clear and far-reaching implications for journalists as well as newspapers and their audience; that if journalists in Nigeria and South Africa are aware of the importance and disruptions wrought by the new phase in the evolution of the media, there is still missing a coherent formula in dealing with the challenges and that there are a lot of factors—some beyond the purview of journalists—that are shaping their reaction.
© 2001-2024 Fundación Dialnet · Todos los derechos reservados