Prime
Will the 2025 award go to news influencers or the journalists?
Writer: Odoobo C. Bichachi. PHOTO/COURTESY
What you need to know:
- News influencers have democratised the sharing of current information but they have a propensity to peddle fake news or misinformation (deliberately or innocently)
- Of the participants who reported getting their news from news influencers, 65 percent stated that these influencers have helped them better understand current events.
At the beginning of every year, we all make our wishes and predictions for the year ahead. As they say, wishes are not horses; otherwise, everyone would ride one. The same goes for predictions; sometimes, they come to pass, and sometimes, they never do.
Regardless, these are always good guides as we take on the New Year. From the journalism perspective, one of the predictions that caught my attention was in a Reuters Institute report, “How 2024 shaped journalism: insights from the Reuters Institute’s work”, specifically in the sub-section titled, “Five trends to keep an eye on”.
Top of the list is, “News influencers play a bigger role”. The second is “AI is increasingly present in the public sphere”. We saw a bit of this last week when the head of a private university in Kampala was fingered for sharing an article with 90 percent of it seemingly generated by AI. To this, later!The third prediction is “Journalists are suffering democratic backsliding and reporting on it”, the fourth is “Working conditions for journalists are worsening” and lastly [fifth] is “Journalists are operating in a changing digital environment”.
These predictions are from a global standpoint. But we actually see them at play right here in Uganda. This column shall, therefore, engage itself with the first prediction – news influencers and the bigger role they may play in Uganda’s news ecosystem.First, who are the news influencers we are talking about? According to a December 10, 2024, Pew Research Centre report on this subject, “‘News influencers’ are defined as individuals with more than 100,000 followers who post about current events and civic issues on social media.” Again, that figure may be a world standard. Here in Uganda, many of our news influencers are anywhere below that figure but influential, nonetheless.
The data in that report clearly shows us the growing power of news influencers. The researchers surveyed 10,658 participants from July 15 to August 4, 2024. They did a content analysis of 500 news influencer accounts on five social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube). They also did a content analysis of more than 28,000 social media posts by news influencers across the five platforms.
This is what the survey found: 85 percent of news influencers are on X, compared to only 50 percent who are on Instagram, and 44 percent who are on YouTube. 63 percent of news influencers are men and 30 percent of news influencers are women. 77 percent of news influencers had no current affiliation or past affiliation with a news organisation. 43 percent of posts by news influencers discussed current events or civic issues.
Of the participants who reported getting their news from news influencers, 65 percent stated that these influencers have helped them better understand current events.
This is Uganda’s pre-election year with the 2026 general election campaigns set to roll off any time before the year’s mid-point. The Electoral Commission has, indeed, already issued its roadmap. Most of the politicking will be this year ahead of voting in February 2026.The mainstream media, as is tradition, is already planning how to cover the election.
But it needs to look over the shoulder if the recent USA election is anything to go by. Here, the old script will not work. The informal social media, driven by countless influencers held sway and left the MSMs holding the can. Trump used influencers effectively against the MSM favourite Kamala Harris.
The last election in Uganda saw a bit of what news influencers can do in action. We will have more of them this time.
News influencers have democratised the sharing of current information but they have a propensity to peddle fake news or misinformation (deliberately or innocently). This is because the rigorous systems of gatekeeping that exist in mainstream media, as well as the journalism code of ethics, are strange to most of them.The onus on Uganda’s mainstream media, as always, will be to rise above the social media din through fact-checking and balanced reporting, and to resist the temptation to compete with the news influencers.
So, by the end of 2025, we will look back and say the journalists had it or the news influencers took it.
Send your feedback/complaints to [email protected]
