Citizen Journalism: Is Political Blogging a Threat to Traditional Media in Kenya?

Susan W. Mwangi

Department of Communication Studies

St. Paul’s University

Nairobi, Kenya

Presented at the East African Communications Association (EACA) Conference held at

Uganda Christian University, Mukono on 29th – 31st August 2014.

Introduction

People are increasingly turning to blogs for news, information and entertainment. But what is the

content of blogs? Who writes blogs? What is the consequence of the population’s growing

dependence on blogs for political information? What are the effects of blogging? What are the

legal implications of blogging, both for bloggers and for journalism in general? Do readers trust

blogs as credible sources of information? What is the role of blogs in the contemporary media

landscape? What makes names such as Robert Alai, Dennis Itumbi and Boniface Mwangi,

household names and blogs such as Ushuhuda, Ghafla, Kahawa Tungu and Daily Post so

popular? This paper seeks to discuss citizen journalism, with a focus on political blogging, and

its effects on traditional media. It also aims to compare the differences between citizen

journalism and traditional mainstream journalism in reporting perspective, journalism standard

as well as public influence in the Kenyan media environment.

According to Blood (2003), the term blog came up in the late 1990s. It evolved over time as: web

journal – web log – weblog – wee blogs – blogs. Blogs are distinguished from other websites in

their dynamism, reverse chronological presentation and dominant use of first person. The term

“bloggers” refers primarily to those who write them as opposed to those who read them.

Blogs are popular in part because they enable easy, inexpensive self-publication of content for a

potentially vast audience on the world wide web and because they are more flexible and

interactive than previous publication formats, print or digital. Media attention to blogs has grown

in proportion to the increase in the number of blogs published. Mainstream media considers

blogging as an alternative form of journalism (Blood, 2003).

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Herring, et al. (2007, p.3) notes that the rapid growth of the blogosphere has been influenced by

a series of external factors that have inspired blogging activity. These include: a) Terrorist

attacks b) War c) Political campaigns and d) Natural disasters. Blogging about these events has

attracted the attention of the mass media, further contributing to the popularization and adoption

of this new mode of computer-mediated communication.

The function of bloggers is mainly that of filtering information from other sources on the web.

Hence, bloggers are viewed as “citizen journalists” (Gillmor, 2003; Lasica, 2002, 2003), “public

intellectuals” (Park, 2003) and “opinion leaders” (Delwiche, 2004). The most linked to or

influential bloggers are known as the A-list (Tramell & Keshela Shvili, 2005).

Blogs provide the opportunity for amateur journalism and personalized publishing. A blog is a

webpage that consists of regular or daily posts, arranged in reverse chronological order or

archived (Herring, Kouper, Schneidt & Wright, 2004).

Are media audiences also content producers other than just being content consumers only?

Blogs provide media consumers with an audience and a relatively audible voice. They also offer

a virtual space where information that is ignored by mainstream media can be published. (eg.

Kahawa tungu, daily post etc.). Blogging according to Andrew Sullivan (2000) is “arguably the

most significant media revolution since the arrival of television” providing the ability to “make

arguments, fast-check them and rebut them in a seamless and endless conversation”

Types of citizen journalists

Ross & Cormier (2010) identify three types of Citizen journalists: accidental journalists (those

who are unexpectedly caught in the middle of an event and take photos or videos and upload

them), advocacy journalists (those engaged in adopting a viewpoint for the sake of advocating on

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behalf of social, political or religious purpose and citizen journalists (common citizens take

initiative to report news or express views about happenings within their community). Citizen

journalism has exploded globally with the advent of new media technologies such as the

internet, worldwide web, mobile phones (Banda, 2010). The professional walls within which the

system existed have since collapsed leaving journalism open to all.

Citizen journalism challenges the institution of professional journalism that has always claimed

to serve the public. Banda (2010, p.25) mentions the institutional basis of journalism as being the

idea of an exclusive practice, reserved for those who would be admitted into it upon completion

of a form of training or educational programme.

Methodology

In his study titled Citizen Journalism in shaping media consumption, Muhadia (2013) conducted

an exploratory study to analyse the nature of citizen journalism in shaping media consumption by

identifying emerging trends applicable for research uptake and the tools available to capture such

information.

This paper seeks to discuss citizen journalism, with a focus on political blogging, and its effects

on traditional media. For this study, a comprehensive Literature Review was undertaken to

understand the differences between citizen journalism and traditional mainstream journalism in

reporting perspective, journalism standard as well as public influence in the Kenyan media

environment. Several scholars have written papers on Citizen Journalism and specifically on the

African scene. These include: Goldstein & Rotich (2008), Banda (2010), Mutsvairo & Columbus

(2012), Muhadia (2013), and Mudhai (2013) among others.

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Findings

The Kenyan Scenario

Available statistics

According to the “CCK sector statistics report quarterly (Q2 2012/2013)” mobile penetration has

risen to 30.7 million subscribers. Internet and data services recorded 9.49 million subscribers,

with a significant control of this segment coming from mobile data/internet subscribers

representing 99% of the subscription, others being satellite subscribers and fibre among other

services(Terrestrial wireless, Fixed DSL, Fixed cable).

It is estimated that the number of internet users rose by 11.6% to reach 16 million individuals.

This is attributed to the growing demand of internet and data services including use of social

media especially among the youth.

Facebook penetration

FB users account for 1.11 billion active users as at the end of March 2013 (May 2011 –

Consumer Report survey). 8.7 million Fake users, 7.5 million under the age of 13 years and 5

million under the age of 10 years.

Twitter penetration

Twitter had 500 million users as at end of 2012, generating over 340 million tweets daily and

handling over 1.6 billion search queries.

Content of Tweets according to Pear Analytics

News (3.6%)

Spam (3.8%)

Self-promotion (5.9%)

Pointless babble (40.1%)

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 Conversational (37.6%)

Pass-along value (8.7%)

Internet Penetration

While internet penetration in Africa is 5.6 percent, internet use is only at 3.4 percent. On the

other hand, internet usage for the rest of the world stands at 96.6 percent. If one were to

disaggregate internet usage across gender, class, race, and other variables, one would conclude

that the internet is still a largely elitist medium in Africa. As such, the practice of internet-based

forms of citizen journalism, while clearly a novelty for many, is still a long way

from becoming a ‘mass’ reality that can transform African societies (Banda, 2010, p.16).

Be that as it may, internet use has facilitated the development of a blogosphere that has made

possible the practice of citizen journalism. There are anecdotes which demonstrate this

phenomenon in different African countries. In fact, some manifestations of citizen journalism

have become a money-earning venture for several citizen journalists, who now find it easier to

lock into institutional media as ‘freelance’ journalists. In addition, it is possible for webbloggers

whose postings attract a significantly large number of hits to look for advertisers for their

cyberspatial ‘market’. But how sustainable such a citizen-journalistic venture can be in the long

run is yet to be established.

Regardless of the low internet penetration levels, some new media technologies are developing at

such a fast rate that there is a possibility of mass communication encapsulated in them. For

example, cell phone use has outstripped fixed land-line use in most of Africa, suggesting that it is

probably becoming an important part of Africa’s communication culture. There is a possibility of

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mobile technology becoming a seventh mass medium – the first six being print, sound recording,

cinema, radio, television, and the internet. With the possibility of the use of the internet

becoming a regular feature of mobile communication, the likelihood of the internet itself

becoming a mass medium among Africans is very real indeed (Banda, 2010).

Political blogs

Political blogs are increasingly being used as a political communication medium. This has

resulted in citizen journalists who have been a “threat” to mainstream media. These blogs

sometimes perform traditional news functions, such as original reporting and therefore playing

the role of “Alternative News sources/Alternative media” (Banda, 2010, p.39). Bloggers will

usually handle “under the rader” stories and challenge mainstream media. Blogging has evolved

to incorporate photography, video, audio, satellite positioning and mobile technologies (Glaser,

2004c, Lasica, 2003).

Audience as a Source

To the extent the blog is seen as a repository of information, musings and experiences compiled

by archiving, blogging activities as well as commenter contributions, it is a collective effort that

operationalises the “audience as the source” conceptualization (Banda, 2005, p.84). Some news

stories are rated higher than others because of having more online users select them and like

them.

Self as source

The blogger can be the source of information, either as a gatekeeper or as an information

provider. A good blog has interactivity (speed/function), modality (sensory richness/ self-

representation) and navigability (individualized exploration). (Sundar, et at.)

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Is there a difference between personal bloggers and political bloggers? Self-disclosure is

sometimes determined by what kind of blog one is dealing with. The main motivation for

personal bloggers is self-disclosure and self-presentation. For political bloggers, the online

platform is an opportunity to express one’s views.

Why traditional journalism is seen as ‘undemocratic’.

Traditional journalism is structured around sources of news. These sources of news tend to be

‘official’ sources, ensconced in their positions of power. The most powerful sources of news tend

to be politicians, business people, NGOs, and the like. These are elite sources of information,

although they might legitimately claim to ‘represent’ the people. However, most ordinary people

would disagree that they are being represented by such sources of information. Traditional

journalists also have the resources to access the sources of information. On the other hand,

ordinary people have no predictable or steady access to the mainstream media. Their issues,

albeit important to them, are thus marginalised from the news agendas of many mainstream

media.

A third important point to make about the undemocratic elitism of traditional media is that they

are given to the conventional definitions of news which emphasise very important persons,

controversy, conflict, unusualness, and the like (Galtung & Ruge 1969). These definitions are

restrictive. By implication, if something happens to ordinary people, as long as there is no “very

important person” to quote, it is not newsworthy. These value judgments are usually bequeathed

to most African journalists through the educational system which is largely driven by Western

notions of what constitutes good journalism (cf. Banda 2009). The structured nature of

traditional media thus tends to be exclusive in its selection of stories and their sources.

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Yet another thing that makes traditional media appear undemocratic: their profit-seeking motive

can sometimes focus their attention on issues other than democratic participation. It takes a lot of

courage for editors to balance profit-making and democracy-making. By suggesting that

conventional journalism is undemocratic, citizen journalism seeks to open it up to the

participation of ordinary people. Citizen journalism is thus aimed at de-institutionalising and de-

professionalising the practice of journalism. But, given the pluralistic nature of cyberspace, it

would appear that there is much in it that does not escape the tentacles of mainstream media.

Citizen journalism may not succeed simply as a way of imagining what is possible with new

media technology (Banda, 2003). It needs to be structured into something or other, but, by

definition, it resists that structuring. An example of structuring citizen journalism is community

communication, as is evident in community radio broadcasting, for example. Here, the structure

imposed on citizen journalism is such that it ought to encourage greater community ownership,

participation and management. But over a decade of community broadcasting has given us

examples of how problematic the idea can be in practice. There are power struggles that are

sometimes glossed over during the planning stages of community broadcasting projects. There

are financial constraints, which come to the fore as soon as the so-called ‘volunteers’ start

demanding payment (Banda 2003). There is local political interference. These problems are a tip

of the iceberg. The question, then, is: how best can we guarantee citizen participation?

Citizen journalism is a rapidly evolving form of journalism where common citizens take the

initiative to report news or express views about happenings within their community. It is news of

the people, by the people and for the people. Citizen journalists are independent, freelancing

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citizen reporters. They are not constrained by conventional journalistic processes or

methodologies, and they usually function without editorial oversight. Citizen journalists

gather, process, research, report, analyse and publish news and information, most often utilizing

a variety of technologies made possible by the internet (Ross & Cormier 2010: 66).

We can therefore safely say that equating citizen journalism with a people-centered definition of

democracy signals the idea that citizen journalism is about democratic citizenship.

By implication, the notion of citizen journalism is an indictment against what are seen as the

undemocratic rituals of conventional media and journalism. There are so many journalists that

might be opposed to the suggestion that conventional journalism is undemocratic. But that is

exactly what citizen journalism seems to be suggesting. To that extent, citizen journalism is a

people-centred, largely online, movement of the so-called ‘We the media’ (Gillmor 2006).

Conclusion

Credibility of Information in Blogs

One of the easiest ways to publish content online is through blogs. Political blogs are specialized

diaries, in the sense that they document the author’s political views rather thatn his or her daily

life (Pew, 2005). Blogs provide for every person with an internet connection to potentially be a

person with a public voice. The constant, continous, open and uninhibited flow of

communication on blogs has been called a “soap box” (Walker, 2005) and a “voice” for the

people (Winer, 2003).

Numerous critics argue that the free and open nature of blogs for information distribution has a

darker side as questions of responsibility, believability and credibility surface daily. The absence

of a gatekeeping authority, combined with lack of formal journalistic education can lead to

postings of inaccurate content. For instance, errors normally filtered by the editorial process are

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sometimes not caught before being posted on the web, and entries can include all sorts of

inaccuracies, from spellings to facts (Flanagin & Metzer, 2000). If such situatuins occur,

bloggers are not bound by any legislation or editorial policy to publish reactions or corrections;

many of them do not go back to correct a post. (Fleishman, 2001).

Blogs have several advantages:

Blogs are used as a campaign tool by participants to disseminate information and opinions,

fundraising, recruiting volunteers, republishing favourable media content and engaging in direct

dialogue with supporters (Crumlich, 2004, Trippi, 2004).

In the US blogs have gained legitimacy as a channel for disseminating and obtaining political

information. In 2004, the democratic and Republican National Committees selected a handful of

bloggers and accredited them to cover parties’ national conventions in the same way as

accredited professional journalists (Trammell, 2005). About 20 blogs known as the A-list have

been called “a new force in national politics” (Pew, 2005).

They are relatively inexpensive to produce while having the power to reach large audiences

quickly in a way more traditionally associated with large, complex news organisations.

Many bloggers engage in activities traditionally associated with the practice of journalism. They

gather stories, conduct background research, take photos and adopt engaging, informal writing

styles.

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