Dr. Maclan Kanyang'wa

Dr. Maclan Kanyang'wa

Co-author

Journalism & Media Studies

4 publications

Maclan Kanyang’wa is a passionate political science, media and communication scholar and Lecturer in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS). He earned his PhD in Political Science from the University of Botswana, building on a...

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Digital First in Malawian Newsrooms: A Comparative Analysis

Book Chapter
Published 18 hours ago, 11 views
Author
Ekari Phiri
Co-authors
Mzati Nkolokosa, Albert Sharra
Abstract
As technology continues to drive news consumers online, media organisations in Malawi are responding by providing online versions of the news through what is described as “digital first” (Robotham and Pignard-Cheynel, You Said Digital First! A Five-Dimensional Definition According to Journalists from Three Swiss Newspapers. Journalism Practice, 18 (7): 1702–1721, 2024). The media organisations rely on posting news briefs on online platforms as a way of inviting and preparing their readers for the full news article to be published in the traditional platform. This has become a survival strategy for traditional media in Malawi (Sharra, ‘Digital First’ as a Coping Measure for Malawi’s Print Newspapers. In New Journalism Ecologies in East and Southern Africa: Innovations, Participatory and Newsmaking Cultures (pp. 113–132). Springer, 2023). The aim of this chapter is to investigate how different media organisations in Malawi employ digital-first strategy. This was done by sampling four well-established media organisations, namely Nation Publications Limited (NPL), Times Group, Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), and Platform for Investigative Journalism (PIJ). Data was collected through interviews with current and former online editors of the publications. We also conducted an online ethnography on all online platforms of the sampled media organisations. The study demonstrates that the ways the four media organisations employ digital first meet all the five dimensions of the Pegged of Robotham and Pignard-Cheynel’s (You Said Digital First! A Five-Dimensional Definition According to Journalists from Three Swiss Newspapers. Journalism Practice, 18 (7): 1702–1721, 2024) digital-first strategy, namely temporality, content format, workflow, production mindset, and business strategy
Year of Publication
2025
Editor
Albert Sharra & Ufuoma Akpojivi
Book Title
Technologies and Media Production Cultures: A global South Perspective
Page Number
63-84
City
Cham, Switzerland
Publisher
Palgrave Macmillan
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