Radio Africa Group celebrated at the end of July after the Star website received more than four million visitors, up from 2.7 million two years ago.
“We are competing almost on equal terms with the Nation and Standard websites yet they benefit from NTV and KTN video content. We are punching above our weight. We are now probably the preferred site for breaking news and political analysis,” RAG’s director of convergence William Pike rejoiced.
As newspaper sales decline, more people consume news online. But it is not only newspapers that are increasingly using the Internet. TV and radio stations also post their content online.
The digital revolution has important implications for journalists. Traditional specialisms are collapsing. The best journalist in this era must possess multimedia skills.
That means one should be a good writer, master the skills of broadcast production, take great pictures and manoeuvre their way around cyberspace.
This is not fiction. One of Kenya’s finest journalists is Larry Madowo, until recently working for the BBC after leaving Nation Media Group. Madowo published a weekly column at the Nation, reported and anchored news on TV and did reports for radio, TV and online at the BBC. He commands a huge following on social media.
Until recently, scribes chose between print and broadcast journalism. Many still do. But the journalism of the future is multimedia. Those in the field and the many who aspire to join the trade are best advised to embrace this reality.
