Good things come from the WhatsNext Speaker Sessions. This is a forum held once a month that brings together a fantastic panel of people that know what they’re talking about. Measured, insightful discussions are held that give attendees a peek into the minds of people that are leading their industries. It provides a chance for everyone in the room to learn how stay ahead of the metaphorical curve.
What we got yesterday was a bunch of brand reps talking about what they do for a living and why they’re great. Opinions were extremely varied and almost held no consistent linking theme (as is expected from people working in the same industry) except for the amorphous idea of content creation.
The Writer behind Owaahh.com, Morris Kiruga, was one of the people who seemed to have an inkling as to what ideological changes would stand to make digital journalism in Kenya better. He was of the opinion that content creators are “cultural intermediaries”. Meaning that journalists are the inbetweeners- the ones who take in and digest information from different sources to make a palate of information that is enjoyable to consume for the reader. This is what he works hard to do with his blog which started as a historical longform curation and has since included current affairs and informative lists. His site serves to make his readers more clever and well informed.
Some panelists were of the opinion that click- baiting and peddling gossip was an integral part of the content mix. And just came short of completely canning editorial policy to chase a buck. Monetization, Monetization, Monetization. To which an audience member rightly responded by expressing her fear for the future of good quality content.
The word “ghaflarization” made rounds. Inspired by the infamous entertainment tabloid Ghafla, the term loosely translates to sensationalized and salacious content which is driven by one end game: to have as many eyeballs on a website as possible -no matter what the cost.
Although many of the biggest “digital newsrooms” in Kenya justified peddling gossip e.g the Eritrean Wives story or the Betty Kyalo & Dennis Okari story as being a necessary part of success in new media, I choose to believe that there are better and more ambitious ways to be and stay relevant.
Another audience member asked the question that was in all our minds after the panelists spoke:
“So Whats Next? You’re all talking about what you are doing. What’s Next?”
Judging from the half-assed responses guessing at what the future of journalism was according to the esteemed panel, one thing was clear. A lot of them were winging it. Some picking the from the scripts of international media models such as Buzzfeed and just “Kenyanizing” the content.
It was also apparent that no one was thinking ten or even two years ahead. No one wanted to change anything (except Morris Kiruga who confesses that his content might not be everyone’s cup of tea). Media in Kenya might be taking blind guesses, throwing money at experiments and crossing their fingers. However, a lesson we can take from this terrible showing of a lack of posterity for media is this:
We need to stop guessing and blindly following trends.
Data collection and data translation is the way forward. Carole Kimutai used Ma3Route as an example of the importance of immediate news. But there’s a bigger lesson to learn from them. Big Data for the African Content and how to get our hands on it to better serve content consumers.
Now that is what’s next in media.
