African news companies struggle with digital transformation in a difficult economy

The African media industry is facing changes and challenges, and during the recent International News Media Association (INMA) Africa News Media Summit, Joseph Odindo, lecturer at the Aga Khan Graduate School of Media and Communications in Kenya, shared his observations on the state of journalism and publishing in Africa. “We have, for a long time, approached newsroom transformation [and] business renewal in the media as primarily an editorial problem,” Odindo observed. “One of the things these new leaders will have to deal with is the cultural change.” In the digital era, Odindo said there is a need to strengthen the moderation of comments on the sites of credible media houses. He also emphasised the importance of having strong journalistic policies in place as well as a mechanism for enforcing them. Odindo commented “We are at a stage in the existence of media whereby one thing justifies our existence — credibility — and now, the main purpose for our existence is that consumers of content come to us to crosscheck what they have encountered. We are at a stage where the basics need to be reaffirmed.”