Mapping Digital Media: Kenya

The Mapping Digital Media project examines the global opportunities and risks created by the transition from traditional to digital media. Covering 60 countries, the project examines how these changes affect the core democratic service that any media system should provide: news about political, economic, and social affairs.The new constitution of Kenya, promulgated in August 2010, is considered a major positive development in ensuring the free flow of information. It provides for freedom of media as a right and fundamental freedom. Section 34 guarantees the independence of electronic, print, and all other types of media. The government has also pledged to enhance Kenya's technological infrastructure by investing in the roll-out of fiber optic cable throughout the country and working on "digital villages" to enable people in remote parts of the country to access broadband internet. Stiff competition in the mobile phone market has also lowered access costs and there is a significant increase in news diversity as a direct result of the convergence of internet, television, and radio on mobile platforms.In online journalism, the virtues associated with ethics—accuracy, honesty, truth, impartiality, fairness, balance, respect for autonomy of ordinary people—are barely respected, largely because there is no effective way of policing this, and there are no legal penalties. Concentration of ownership has increased in the last five years and transparency in ownership of media has improved only slightly over the past five years. The government controls media licensing—a process that is shrouded in secrecy, so that it is difficult to establish who owns which media house.The overall framework of policy and law is not yet adequate for digitized media in Kenya. The national ICT policy of 2006 committed the government to support and encourage pluralism and diversity. While this led to a proliferation of channels, it did not do much for content diversity due to the level of concentration of media. A lack of resources to build the digital infrastructure, consumer ignorance of what the switch means and whether the public can afford the end-user devices are some of the challenges faced in Kenya's digital switchove

Media consumption in an evolving digital world: millennials and digital natives’ consumption habits and implications for legacy media in Kenya

Technology has led to a paradigm shift for industries and consumers alike, altering the way that businesses operate. Traditional media business models have thus been rendered less competitive by the emergence of the digital platforms that are targetcasting and delivering content to niche audience segments. The competition for audience from these emergent digital platforms has not only occasioned a decline in revenues for the legacy media but also audience fragmentation. The biggest puzzle for media executives today is the bulging youth population that is characterised by unique and fluid consumption and lifestyle characteristics. Digital-native content producers have leveraged these unique and fluid consumption behaviours of the millennials and Generation Z (Gen Zs) to stake a claim in advertising. They have done this by targeting the young demographic with targetcast content that is cheap to produce but of interest to niche audiences, which are then clipped away from legacy media. Targetcast content and the audiences it attracts appeal to advertisers because of the ability to deliver a more predictable audience, with a higher percentage of likely product buyers. There are three key factors underlying the reason why this clipping off of young audiences is so financially devastating to legacy media in terms of advertising: 1) First and foremost, advertisers want to reach young audiences (18-34, most and 18-49 second best) because young people do not have established brand preferences and therefore are more susceptible than older people to advertising; 2) young people in those age groups are more desirable to advertisers because they spend a higher percentage of their income, than older people, on consumer goods, particularly if they have children in their households; and 3) because almost any audience clipped off by narrowcasting is a “higher quality” audience for most advertisers than a general legacy media audience. Because of this, advertising revenue has become so fragmented that as legacy media’s main source of revenue, it no longer guarantees viability. So even as media consumption in East Africa has increased and the advertising market expanded, audience fragmentation and proliferation of media outlets has considerably reduced the advertising dollars that go to media houses. Further, the industry continues to be constrained by considerable challenges, such as limited sources of commercial advertising and content monetisation as well as low disposable income among the target population. These factors exacerbate the scarcity of sustainable advertising revenues

The Adoption of Artificial Intelligence in Newsrooms in Kenya: a Multi-case Study

The deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in newsrooms is gaining prominence worldwide, with the technology being used to enhance the processes of news gathering, packaging, and distribution. The study was guided by two research questions: what factors drive/hinder(s) the adoption of AI or lack of it in newsrooms in Kenya? Moreover, what opportunities do journalists feel are offered by adopting AI in newsrooms in Kenya? A qualitative research approach and descriptive research design were employed to investigate the adoption of AI in newsrooms in Kenya. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC-Africa) and Radio Africa Group (RAG) media organizations were the target population. As a research strategy, a multi-case method was employed. The researchers conducted in-depth interviews with newsroom-based participants. A purposive sampling technique was used to select participants for the research. Collected data were analyzed thematically. The paper identified six factors driving the adoption of AI or lack of it: management buy-in, cost, technical skills, clarity of user case, perception, and company structure. Further, the study identified three challenges presented by adopting AI: lack of quality data, ethical concerns, and unpredictability of the technology’s impact. The study concludes that AI offers excellent opportunities for newsrooms in Kenya to explore. Still, some obstacles need to be addressed before they can benefit fully from the technology. The study projects that human and automated journalism will become closely integrated in the future and recommends that newsrooms in Kenya prepare to embrace AI by laying the foundation for its adoption. Media schools should update curricula to prepare journalists to work with emerging technologies such as AI. Further research is needed to identify the specific skill sets required for Kenyan digital journalists to embrace AI fully. Scholars should investigate how AI can shape new business models given shrinking revenues in the media

Online Audiences and Gatekeeping: User Comments and Their Influence on Editorial Processes in Newsrooms in Kenya

In Kenyan newsrooms, there has been a debate about keeping the comment section on news websites in the aftermath of Social Media Networks. This allows the media to still collect user opinions without the risk of unregulated third-party comments. This paper sought to establish the nature and influence user comments have on editorial processes and explain what value media houses that have retained the comment section are receiving. To investigate this, the researchers adopted mixed methods research approach (quantitative and qualitative) and concurrent mixed methods research designs. The targeted population was journalists working in media houses that operate in print, broadcast, and digital news websites in Nairobi County. The targeted media houses were: Nation Media Group (NMG), Standard Group (SG), and Radio Africa Group (RAG). The sample size comprised 252 participants for quantitative data, nine key informants for in-depth interviews, and 84 articles for direct content analysis. Surveys and directed content analysis were used as strategies of inquiry. These strategies were aided by questionnaires, in-depth interviews, and code sheets as data generation tools.   Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM/SPSS) was used to analyse quantitative data. Quantitative data was presented using tables and pie charts. Qualitative data was thematically analysed and presented in the form of themes. Contrary to popular belief, the findings show that discussions in news website comment sections are frequently marred by incivility. Instead, most of the comments were deliberative, with audience members just looking for a forum to express themselves civilly. However, in cases with reported incidences of incivility, the sources quoted were the main trigger. Journalists have been shown to use user input in the comment section to gauge the quality of their content, while media companies use audience knowledge to make strategic decisions. The results shed light on how newsrooms may give the public a platform to discuss and give their input on the news while maintaining deliberative debates

Online Audiences and Gatekeeping: User Comments and Their Infuence on Editorial Processes in Newsrooms in Kenya

In Kenyan newsrooms, there has been a debate about whether to keep the comment section on news websites in the aftermath of Social Media Networks, which allow the media to still collect user opinion without the risk of unregulated third-party comments. This paper sought to establish the nature and influence user comments have on editorial processes as well as explain what value media houses that have retained the comment section are receiving. To investigate this, the researchers adopted mixed methods research approach (quantitative and qualitative) and concurrent mixed methods research designs. The targeted population was journalists working in media houses that operate in print, broadcast, and digital news website in Nairobi County. The targeted media houses were: Nation Media Group (NMG), Standard Group (SG), and Radio Africa Group (RAG). Sample size comprised of 252 participants for quantitative data, 9 key informants for in-depth interviews, and 84 articles for direct content analysis. Survey and directed content analysis were used as strategies of inquiry. These strategies were aided by questionnaires, in – depth interviews, and code sheet as data generation tools.   Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM/SPSS) was used to analyse quantitative data. Quantitative data was presented using tables and pie-charts. Qualitative data was thematically analysed and presented in form of themes. The findings show that, contrary to popular belief, discussions in news website comment sections are frequently marred by incivility. Instead, the majority of the comments were deliberative in nature, with audience members just looking for a forum to express themselves in a civil manner. However, in cases where there were reported incidences of incivility, the sources quoted were the main trigger. Journalists have been shown to use user input in the comment section to gauge the quality of the content they produce, while media companies use audience knowledge to make strategic decisions. The results shed light on how newsrooms may give the public a platform to discuss and give their input on the news and still maintain deliberative debates

Online Audiences and Gatekeeping: User Comments and Their Infuence on Editorial Processes in Newsrooms in Kenya

In Kenyan newsrooms, there has been a debate about whether to keep the comment section on news websites in the aftermath of Social Media Networks, which allow the media to still collect user opinion without the risk of unregulated third-party comments. This paper sought to establish the nature and influence user comments have on editorial processes as well as explain what value media houses that have retained the comment section are receiving. To investigate this, the researchers adopted mixed methods research approach (quantitative and qualitative) and concurrent mixed methods research designs. The targeted population was journalists working in media houses that operate in print, broadcast, and digital news website in Nairobi County. The targeted media houses were: Nation Media Group (NMG), Standard Group (SG), and Radio Africa Group (RAG). Sample size comprised of 252 participants for quantitative data, 9 key informants for in-depth interviews, and 84 articles for direct content analysis. Survey and directed content analysis were used as strategies of inquiry. These strategies were aided by questionnaires, in – depth interviews, and code sheet as data generation tools.   Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM/SPSS) was used to analyse quantitative data. Quantitative data was presented using tables and pie-charts. Qualitative data was thematically analysed and presented in form of themes. The findings show that, contrary to popular belief, discussions in news website comment sections are frequently marred by incivility. Instead, the majority of the comments were deliberative in nature, with audience members just looking for a forum to express themselves in a civil manner. However, in cases where there were reported incidences of incivility, the sources quoted were the main trigger. Journalists have been shown to use user input in the comment section to gauge the quality of the content they produce, while media companies use audience knowledge to make strategic decisions. The results shed light on how newsrooms may give the public a platform to discuss and give their input on the news and still maintain deliberative debates

Heavy Sexual Content Versus Safer Sex Content: A Content Analysis of the Entertainment Education Drama Shuga

Extremely popular with Kenyan youth, the entertainment-education drama Shuga was designed with specific goals of promoting condom use, single versus multiple sexual partners, and destigmatization of HIV. Almost as soon as it aired, however, it generated controversy due to its extensive sexual themes and relatively explicit portrayal of sexual issues. To determine how safer sex, antistigma messages, and overall sexual content were integrated into Shuga, we conducted a content analysis. Results indicated that condom use and HIV destigmatization messages were frequently and clearly communicated. Negative consequences for risky sexual behavior were communicated over the course of the entire series. Messages about multiple concurrent partnerships were not evident. In addition, in terms of scenes per hour of programming, Shuga had 10.3 times the amount of sexual content overall, 8.2 times the amount of sexual talk, 17.8 times the amount of sexual behavior, and 9.4 times the amount of sexual intercourse as found in previous analysis of U.S. entertainment programming. Research is needed to determine how these factors may interact to influence adolescent viewers of entertainment education dramas

Prevalences of Some Virulence Genes among Escherichia Coli Isolates from Swine Presented to a Diagnostic Laboratory in Iowa

Escherichia coli strains that carry genes encoding for specific virulence attributes cause diarrhea and edema disease in swine. Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) have genes for enterotoxins that stimulate secretion of electrolytes and water by the small intestine. To colonize the small intestine and cause diarrhea, ETEC must also produce fimbriae (pili). Escherechia coli strains that cause edema disease produce E. coli Shiga toxin (Verotoxin) and are designated as STEC.Shiga toxin is absorbed from the intestine into blood and causes systemic vascular damage resulting in edema disease. STEC must also produce fimbriae to colonize the small intestine and cause disease. Some E. coli strains are designated as attaching/effacing E. coli (AEEC) because of their ability to attach intimately to the surface of intestinal epithelial cells and efface microvilli.10 The attaching/effacing attribute is encoded by a series of chromosomal genes located in a pathogenicity island called the locus of enterocyte effacement. ETEC, STEC, and AEEC are considered to be different pathotypes of E. coli. However, some of the virulence genes that characterize them can be located on mobile genetic elements (plasmids, transposons, bacteriophages), and combinations of pathotypes occur. For example, some AEEC such as the human pathogen E. coli O157:H7 also have genes for Shiga toxin production, and some strains associated with edema disease of swine have genes for both Shiga toxin and enterotoxin production.This article is from Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation 11 (1999): 557, doi:10.1177/104063879901100617.</p

Heavy Sexual Content Versus Safer Sex Content: A Content Analysis Of The Entertainment Education Drama Shuga

Extremely popular with Kenyan youth, the entertainment-education drama Shuga was designed with specific goals of promoting condom use, single versus multiple sexual partners, and destigmatization of HIV. Almost as soon as it aired, however, it generated controversy due to its extensive sexual themes and relatively explicit portrayal of sexual issues. To determine how safer sex, antistigma messages, and overall sexual content were integrated into Shuga, we conducted a content analysis. Results indicated that condom use and HIV destigmatization messages were frequently and clearly communicated. Negative consequences for risky sexual behavior were communicated over the course of the entire series. Messages about multiple concurrent partnerships were not evident. In addition, in terms of scenes per hour of programming, Shuga had 10.3 times the amount of sexual content overall, 8.2 times the amount of sexual talk, 17.8 times the amount of sexual behavior, and 9.4 times the amount of sexual intercourse as found in previous analysis of U.S. entertainment programming. Research is needed to determine how these factors may interact to influence adolescent viewers of entertainment education dramas