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Let me continue this 
with some thoughts following the recent developments in the local industry and tell you why you need embrace this new way of doing things. I am keen to hear your thoughts. https://twitter.com/OliverMathenge/status/1338563576198524930
with some thoughts following the recent developments in the local industry and tell you why you need embrace this new way of doing things. I am keen to hear your thoughts. https://twitter.com/OliverMathenge/status/1338563576198524930
This week, @NationAfrica launched its paywall and I have seen a lot of mixed reactions to the move. It is a bold step with which NMG, as an industry giant, has altered the landscape.
This is despite @StandardKenya having launched one for The Nairobian last year and the main site this year. Though the two models are different, they are both necessary for the survival of journalism in Kenya as I noted in my thread in December.
Of course, there has been a lot of resistance but let me try explain why we will all take this direction and would hope that readers embrace this new structures. We faced a lot of opposition when we put some of @TheStarKenya content behind a registration wall.
It is evident that the media in the country is struggling. The old business models are no longer helping us meet our obligations as we should. It is therefore important that we take this view when asking ourselves why we should pay for content.
The Government has been the key spender in advertising but over the last couple of years, it has not been able to pay its debts. Today, GoK owes the media billions of shillings. It is therefore only prudent that the media finds other ways of generating money.
In addition to this being a problem for the media, the government has used advertising as a tool to try and manipulate the media, journalists and owners.
Advertising revenue from online platforms cannot help the industry. The Duopoly of Facebook and Google has made it impossible for publishers to make money despite commanding more than 10 fold the audience on traditional platforms.
Great journalism costs money to produce. While media houses are giving their content online for free, they are incurring costs to produce the content. Asking consumers to pay for this content should therefore, IMO, be understandable.
As a journalist, I feel that the conversation on paywalls or paying for content has not been structured in a way that the consumer understands and hence this thread. I feel journalists need the consumer as much as consumer needs journalist with the changing landscape.
There are those who ask why they should pay for news they can access elsewhere for free. Well, in my view, this should not be the case. Media houses should come up with original and unique content to charge for online like the 'Netflix' of news.
Because of the role the journalism plays in a society, I do not believe that all content available online should be paid for. However, consumers should understand that what we are asking for is for them to support the vital role that journalism plays in society.
Paying for publishers' content online will be the norm in the coming years. We therefore should embrace it as so and keep journalism alive.
Ready to hear your thoughts.
