The impact of Technology on Journalism Practice in Nigeria

By; Mustapha Ummi Fatimah, U17mm1114

Technology has and continues to fundamentally rework the manner in which people access news and information across the world. New communications technologies available today have also persistently increased their presence in developing countries faster than most technologies have historically done. This is observed by the manner in which internet penetration and the use of mobile phone devices has quickly spread. These advances have also greatly affected the way in which news and information are accessed, as seen by the proliferation of news websites, weblogs, mobile news alerts and applications, among others.

Collectively, these technologies are part of the emerging “new media”— a term used to refer to digital technologies that are both collaborative and dynamic, allowing users to access and direct information to others over the internet or through mobile devices. New media have continued to be adapted in an array of fields from agriculture, health and education, to areas such as banking, commerce and trade, among others. The news media as well as the area of journalism has also been impacted, with the internet, which is central to new media being the key driver.

The internet is a tool that has transformed lives and has changed society. Its growth over the past 15 years has been phenomenal, permeating many aspects of everyday life. In Nigeria, its use has grown significantly in this period even though penetration is still low.

In journalism and media operations, there are emerging trends and practices that are completely different from the old paradigm and their “distinguishing qualities include ubiquitous news, global information access, instantaneous reporting, interactivity, multimedia content, and extreme content customization”. The growing culture of what is technically referred to as the User-Generated Contents (UGC) has given birth to a new paradigm in journalism and media practice. Incontrovertibly, this new journalism culture presents both threat and opportunity to media organisations, depending on which side of the divide the organisation stands. On one side, it has diminished the values and standards of journalism by conferring the highly cherished status of a journalist on anyone who has in his possession a wired computer, mobile phone and other devices that are acquiescent to Internet. On the other hand, some see boundless opportunities in the new culture, because it has made journalism cheaper, easier, and more flexible. Internet technology which is the major force behind this new culture, has made it possible for today’s journalists to operate a “mobile” office – with the aid of portable gadgets, a journalist can record, process, edit and transmit news materials from the field as though he is working from the office.

One of the profoundest, and probably, the most visible implication of new media as it affects journalism is the blurring of line between news producers and news consumers, as both now operate from the same platform. With this development, the 21st Century journalists and perhaps, journalists of the future can no longer boast of professional exclusivity as regards information gathering, processing and distribution. This seeming democratisation of news space is threatening the mainstream media organisations which are usually constrained by some professional codes, ethics, values and standards. While the professional journalists are still struggling to sieve their news materials through the lens of their ethics, values and standards, the citizen journalist who is so eager to be the first to report, without much restraints, sends out the material to public domain at little or no cost. By the time the traditional journalist would release the news material which most of the time, has to pass through some procedural and professional sifting, the value of the news had diminished. This has compelled many to ask if the services of professional journalists would be needed in future.

For journalists or media organisations to survive and successfully juggle through the murky waters of today’s media space, and to be able to address the challenges created by the new media, such media organisations or journalists must devise survival strategies that are amenable to the current circumstances because “whinging about the technology will get you nowhere. The only way to deal with new technology that up-ends your job or your business model is to get out in front of it. Otherwise it will get out in front of you.

Posted at; 7:39pm