KITEMA: New media has redefined role of journalists

The upsurge of the multiparty political system in developing countries like Kenya marked the commencement of a prickly journey.

In the process of transition from a single party to a multiparty political system, the contribution of the media has always remained pivotal.

The change in the political scene could not get so much for the people of Kenya, it was still not accessible for the people to raise their voices directly to the government and talk about their rights.

Amid a difficult democratic system, new media showed at least rays of hope to the people of Kenya so that they could put their points on social media sites and openly express their views.

A few years later, the new media environment is noted to be dynamic and continues to develop and shape the political space, sometimes in unanticipated ways that have serious consequences for democratic governance and politics.

The internet has radically changed the way that political leaders communicate, how elections campaigns are contacted and citizen engagement by various institutions.

Political media have evolved rapidly over the past few years due to technological advancements and continue to develop sometimes in unanticipated ways.

They have even changed how government institutions operate and political leaders communicate to the public.

The new media has transformed the political system and redefined the role of journalists.

It has redefined election reporting, the way elections are contested, and how citizens engage in politics and complicated the political system.

Mainstream media institutions such as TV stations, radio and newspapers coexist with the new media that are the outgrowth of technological innovation.

With the new media, information can be directly conveyed to individuals without the interpolation of editorial or institutional gatekeepers, which are intrinsic to the mainstream media.

The new media have presented an amplified level of instability and unpredictability in the political communication process.

Ideally, the media serve an essential role in a democratic society, such as but not limited to informing the public, providing citizens with the information needed to make thoughtful decisions about leadership and policy and acting as watchdogs.

The diversity of content disseminated by new media has created opportunities such as the ability for more voices to be heard and exacerbated trends that undercut the ideal aims of a democratic press.

Undoubtedly, the new media has both expanded and undercut the traditional roles of the press in a democratic society, and vastly increased the potential for political information to reach even the most disinterested citizens.

This has enabled the creation of digital public squares where opinions can be openly shared, and new avenues for engagement that allow the public to connect in new techniques with government, and to contribute to the flow of political information and democracy.

New media has provided a possibility for common people to raise their voices with the tiny device to the people sitting at the top.

The reach of social media is high among the youth of the country.

They are highly indulged in the virtual sphere of the online world.

The extensive upsurge of new media has provided different means of interactive communicative platforms with catching ideas.

Social media has provided a chance of being politically empowered for the kind of interested candidates they are constrained with limited resources, they have been availing social media for their political purpose. 

Several mobilising campaigns are taking place through the use of Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp.

The expansion of new media and its contribution is mixed with the various aspects of success and weaknesses of the upsurge of mass movements and protests.

In the contemporary scenario, the integration of social media through the assimilation of several techniques-based platforms has become the essential element of any mass movement but with the significant contribution of new media, the future and consolidated outcome of these movements based on the means of virtual coordination has not been seen concrete in long term.

The movement which starts through the excessive use of new media used to have strong intensity but it usually is not able to be consistent for a long time with the remainder of its excitement and intensive approach to transformation.

Apart from all this unconventional form of media platforms has given a chance to the common people of the country to be participative in the ongoing political affairs through their raising of voice and accommodated movement without any high cost of and association of high-tech contact from political lineage. 

The broader sphere of new media has its inclined form of communication technologies which provide a new system of a decentralised, non-hierarchical and effective technological platform for the dissemination of political and social ideas among mass people.

Lastly, the media as a public sphere should be free from political and economic constraints and pressures emanating both from the state and from organized and vested economic interests.

Communications and public relations specialist

 

Edited by Kiilu Damaris

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