Why reader may be king again, not the advertiser

As the year 2021 winds down, many of us are chewing on the lessons we picked along the way from both personal and professional perspectives. The personal ones will remain that. I shall share the professional lessons starting with what I learnt from the Reuters Institute journalism journals as shared with me yesterday from their various research.

The first one was the important role played by the media in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. While there is no doubt that the ever changing information technologies have spawned a global “infodemic” through social media, in the end, the most trusted sources of information on the virus, case management and vaccines has been the mainstream media.

A Reuters Institute survey in May “suggests that using news organisations as a source for news and information about coronavirus decreases the rate by which people believe in vaccine misinformation in all eight countries studied. In contrast, the source in our data that is most consistently associated with higher misinformation belief is relying on messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram.”

Well done, journalists that worked throughout the lockdowns as many others waited for this information in the comfort and safety of their homes.

The other learning from a January survey showed that the reader may soon be king again, not the advertiser! At least 243 newsroom leaders from 43 countries where asked about “Journalism, media and technology trends and predictions in 2021”. The result: “more respondents said they would focus on subscription (76 per cent) and fewer said they would emphasise advertising (66 per cent). It also shows how important diversification has become, with commercial publishers citing, on average, four different revenue streams as being important to them.”

Many newspapers including Daily Monitor have indeed started the journey, requiring online readers to first register so as to access stories. This is important for several reasons, including getting to know your readers, intimate connection to share and receive feedback, and eventually getting that shilling to support the journalism so many take for granted. But beyond registration, it is down to the content!

Outside Reuters, two lessons I hope many of us journalists shall carry into the new years are knowledge-based reporting, and that facts and truth are not necessarily the same thing.

On knowledge, being informed enables a journalists to interrogate issues in a story and not just act as a conveyor belt for sources whose agenda may not necessarily be furtherance of the truth.

As for facts vs truth, the two only come close depending on the context the facts are shared. Selective facts do not produce the truth. They produce misinformation, disinformation or mal-information which are three key ingredients of fake news. When the full context surrounding the facts is given, audiences are better informed.

There are certainly more lessons for journalism every day that may not have found space in this column.

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Andrew Barungi: In November I emailed you about italicising the name of newspapers but not much has changed. I had said then that I love reading the Daily Monitor but I have one problem with your editors, which may be a Ugandan problem – not using italics when they should. The rule is you italicize titles of books and newspapers. There is inconsistency; sometimes you do and sometimes you do not!

These are things Timothy Kalyegira talks about Ugandans not following rules. The Daily Monitor is a respectable publication, and it should epitomize universal writing standards. I hope the editors can take this seriously.

Public Editor: Thank you for this feedback. As I responded then, we really have no excuse for doing the unconventional. I have shared this feedback with the team again to inform change.

Leah (student): Good afternoon. This is a message of appreciation to all the staff of NMG towards service delivery as well as the educative programmes like “Mwasuze Mutya” on NTV. Mere words cannot describe how grateful I am but just keep the candle burning. God bless you all and a Merry Christmas!

Public Editor: Thank you Leah for the wonderful message and for the season’s greetings. This has been duly shared with the NMG staff. Journalism is many times a thankless job so this appreciation is heartwarming for the team.

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