THE Zimbabwean media industry is grappling with adjusting to a rapidly evolving landscape and it is a miracle no publisher closed in 2024. Some are just hanging in there, but the future is not guaranteed.
A myriad challenges continue to threaten media sustainability and relevance. If nothing is done at the administrative level, journalism in Zimbabwe will soon be forgotten.
Traditional revenue streams are on the decline, if not towards extinction. add the shift towards digital consumption to the equation, and all you have are media houses fighting for survival.
Journalists in Zimbabwe have been at the receiving end in all this, often forgetting to suffer the mental burden that comes with poor remuneration and an unknown future for the industry.
These have been fertile conditions for brown envelopes, khaki journalism and all forms of corruption involving journalists; from calling sources with blackmail to demanding payments in exchange for stories to get published.
This has compromised the quality of our journalism as money will always dictate who is to be covered, further diminishing the audience’s trust in news.
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If newsrooms are not producing good journalism, revenues will suffer. Advertising revenues have diminished due to economic constraints and the proliferation of free online content, compelling serious media organisations to reevaluate their traditional business models.
But, the comprehension of innovative revenue-generating strategies remains narrow, with many struggling to adapt to the complexities of digital monetisation in an increasingly competitive environment.
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) presents both a challenge and an opportunity. While AI presents powerful tools for content creation and audience engagement, the lack of proficiency among local journalists in harnessing these technologies often leaves potential gains untapped.
This technological gap highlights the need for comprehensive training and resources to empower journalists and media houses to capitalise on advancements in AI.
While we acknowledge that mismanagement, poor decision making and lack of personal development among local journalists have their own share of the near-death circumstances of the industry, the government has not done much to save and protect journalism.
Journalism role in an economy
Today the world grapples with misinformation and disinformation. Anyone can invent a narrative, share it on social media, before you know it, most people are in panic. But in an economy where journalism flourishes and is strong, these can be easily flagged.
As 2024 was ending, South African newspapers such as Rapport, City Press, Beeld, Volksblad and Daily Sun stopped printing.
While this presents a transformation into the digital space, it also highlights an uncertain future in journalism.
We could be slowly moving into news deserts where many stories will remain untold, reminiscent of the 1984 Owellian dystopian future where the void of news leaves people uninformed and potentially fearful of what is happening because no one is telling them.
For instance, in December last year, Zimbabweans had a frightening conversation with some admiring the bloody colonial white supremacist establishment led by Ian Douglas Smith.
While those who were in disbelief fumed because this conversation, specifically that of showing Stockholm Syndrome, has no place in independent Zimbabwe, you really cannot blame them for a country with an unknown media literacy rate.
Had journalism been strengthened through media literacy, which is supposed to begin in ECD by the way, nurturing an informed citizenry with an understanding of credible sources of information and fact-checking, guaranteeing the future of journalism, Zimbabweans would have no time to admire colonial regimes.
No one has told the country a compelling narrative about our history, all you get are narratives of convenience where some comrades accuse each other of being real liberation fighters, and real war veterans.
The collapse of journalism weakens democracy, fuels polarisation, increases local corruption and leaves the citizenry uninformed about policies and developments that affect their daily lives, exposing them to be victims of fake news and admirers of not so serious and impactful issues, ultimately turning Zimbabwe into a country of clowns.
Journalism is not just about informing, but holding power to account, initiating and fostering citizen engagement. Without journalism, democracy dies and only journalism can save journalism.
As a country, we have not been producing the best of journalism of late. For some time, we have been producing content with blurred lines between journalism and activism. The polarisation is sickening and journalists have joined in, we can predict headlines that will come out of a national event covered by both privately-owned and public media.
Our style of journalism has remained pretty much traditional, far from current trends with no experimentation with new forms of journalism such as solutions journalism, and data journalism.
No major investigative, groundbreaking stories have been published in a long time. But because of technology, we are now competing with the likes of The Economist, Financial Times, The Guardian and all global media entities, who are moving with the current trends, and are also experimenting with new revenue models owing to quality journalism.
These factors have also been highlighted by research as major elements fuelling news avoidance. The result: people find comfort in non-news content, unverified content and fake news. There is a need for decisive action, including capacity building, and maybe professionalising journalism for it to retain its powerful role in the Zimbabwean economy.
l To be continued next week
Mugadzaweta is Group Digital and Online Editor at Alpha Media Holdings — Cell: +263 773 292 376/ email: smuchemwa@alphamedia.co.zw