Earlier this week, I was invited to speak to journalism students at the United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa) during their Media Week. As a thought experiment, I asked them to imagine (God forbid!) a coup attempt at 4 am the next morning. Where would the tanks roll up: at one of Kenya’s supposedly "dying" media houses or at the homes of popular social media influencers?
Not a single hand was raised for the influencers. This straw poll highlighted an important but often overlooked truth: despite their reported decline, Kenya’s media houses remain the nerve centre of our body politic.
However, as the saying goes, repeat a lie often enough and it takes on the gloss of truth. Fortunately for us, this particular lie easily collapses under scrutiny. But I can’t deny that media houses face an existential crisis. The massive job losses and profit warnings are well-documented. These challenges are real, but they are not insurmountable.
As discussed in my previous op-ed, tech idolatry is not our salvation. There is a mountain of evidence that illustrates how Silicon Valley has decimated the news business while bestowing pharaonic wealth upon itself.
As Yanis Varoufakis, the distinguished economist and former finance minister of Greece makes painfully clear in his new book Technofeudalism, American tech giants sold us a false bill of goods. They promised upward mobility and a better world but instead delivered a system built on exploitative labour practices. Media houses must therefore use these platforms wisely while educating our audience about their limitations.
News avoidance, driven by social media-induced information overload, is on the rise. Social media has turned many (but thankfully not most) formerly discerning news consumers into headline chasers with no appetite for complexity. Media houses can counter this trend by focusing less on feeding social media algorithms and more on curating their home pages to provide a respite from the constant barrage of information.
Another strategy is ditching the serfdom of “clicks for dollars", which prioritises high website traffic to attract advertisers. The approach creates a never-ending chase for clicks, also called “churnalism”, which often sacrifices quality at the altar of quantity.
Forward-thinking media outlets are now adopting an "eat what you kill" strategy by building their sites to directly convert their audience, using methods like promo codes, product sales, events and experientials. This fosters a more sustainable business model by generating long-term revenue from loyal customers instead of fleeting ad campaigns.
Kenyans are savvy media consumers who understand the challenges facing journalism. Leveraging this awareness, media houses can implement a reader-supported model, where they directly ask for audience contributions. The Guardian, the British daily renowned for its exposés, has successfully used this model.
While the financial gain may not be immediate, especially in the current economic climate, reader contributions have a powerful secondary effect: they humanise the media house. It turns audiences into invested partners in the success of media houses, thus strengthening the connection and loyalty that fuels long-term sustainability.
For the strategies mentioned to be truly effective, media houses must prioritise fearless journalism. Financial limitations can sometimes lead to a reluctance to challenge powerful entities, particularly those that are major advertisers. Betting firms are particularly irksome. They are notorious for preying on Kenyans at the sharp end of our economy. Investigative journalism exposing such predatory practices is essential.
Despite the challenges, Kenyan media houses have a critical role to play as the backbone of our public discourse. Show me a well-functioning media house and I will show you a healthy democracy speaking to itself.
The narrative of their decline is not a foregone conclusion. With strategic adjustments and a renewed focus on their core mission, Kenyan media houses can continue to serve as trusted sources of news and information in a world in which it is increasingly difficult to distinguish the signal from the noise.
Lawyer and media practitioner. [email protected]
