Uptake of citizen journalism by Mainstream Print media in Zimbabwe: The case of the Herald and The Sunday Mail. Masuku Caven and Moyo Painos

THIS PAPER WAS PRESENTED AT THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN AFRICA ,NAIROBI, KENYA ON 25-29 JULY 2013 Uptake of citizen journalism by Mainstream Print media in Zimbabwe: The case of the Herald and The Sunday Mail. Masuku Caven and Moyo Painos Lecturers in the Media and Society Studies department Midlands State University Gweru, Zimbabwe Email(s) masuku.caven@gmail.com or masukuc@msu.ac.zw painosmoyo@yahoo.com or moyop@msu.ac.zw Abstract Citizen journalism is a current hot topic at present across the globe. It remains a degree of conceptual wooliness about its definition and meaning, with everything from life style blogs to live footage of freak. This paper seeks to give a detailed definition of the term “Citizen Journalism” in relation to the operations and functions of The Herald and Sunday Mail in Zimbabwe as public newspapers under the Zim-Papers state owned, funded and controlled by Zimbabwean government. In addition, the paper would assess the uptake of citizen journalism in Zimbabwe per se by mainstream print media mentioned above. The study will also assess the technological basis of citizen journalism in Zimbabwe by mainstream traditional public print media. Again, understanding how Information and Communication Technologies (ICT’s) are re-shaped by human attempts to create a public platform and a market place of ideas in Zimbabwe will be analysed. The study will further assess how citizen journalism becomes institutionalised by conventional media. Technological convergence and adoption of new forms of online journalism by certain print media houses in Zimbabwe will be scrutinised with regards to how the two papers operate as part of the main stream press in Zimbabwe. The impact of citizen journalism that can either be positive or negative to ethical and professional journalism practices would be assessed as well. Use of mobile phones by journalists and the websites of The Herald and The Sunday Mail in the context of citizen journalism would be analysed. Key Words: citizen journalism, blogger, blogosphere, cyber-sphere, cyber-space, journalism, mobile technology, professional journalism. Introduction New information and communication technologies (ICT’s) has ushered in new developments in the media field and has been a major driving force behind the practice of citizen journalism which is gaining popularity day by day. Although Zimbabwe is considered a late comer in joining the information superhighway the country has made significant strides in internet connectivity (Chari 2009).The internet has become a key tool for newsgathering since the first paper went on the web in 1998. The internet is increasingly asserting itself as a prime source of news and information globally thus threatening the future of traditional news media such as newspaper. Given the situation whereby mainstream print media in Zimbabwe mainly serves the interest of the ruling elite and business coalition while ignoring the interests of the masses. Citizen journalism emerges as an alternative platform where citizens can create and disseminate news which is important to them. The globalisation of democracy, deregulation of the media fraternity, the over commercialisation of state media, the communication agenda for the democratization of journalistic communication and the rapid emergence and adoption of new information and communication technologies (ICT’s), are all factors which have led to the change of the media and communication landscape across the globe to allow citizens participation in the practice of journalism in Zimbabwe. Citizen journalism is the concept of allowing the public to participate in news gathering and news reporting. Ross and Cormier (2010) argues that, 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. Citizen journalism allows the public to take an active role in the whole news gathering process, from collecting news information to disseminate it. There are two basically types of citizen journalism namely un-institutional and institutional. Non-institutional citizen journalism evolves around the individual. It evolves social networking, where private citizens use a combination of platforms to generate content and disseminate it as widely as possible. Banda (2008) says that, more often, the unfitted nature of cyberspace has meant that citizen journalists do not answer to any specific authority. Institutional journalism is that type of citizen journalism which has a form of organisational structure. The individual remains an important aspect of the practice engaging in dialogue with the recipients of their content. Formal media organisation such as the Cable News Network (CNN) and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), are inviting their journalists encouraging their reporters to function more like citizen journalists with less organisational regulations. Similar studies have been conducted out to evaluate the adoption of internet by journalists for information sourcing and dissemination. Studies have also been carried out to investigate the impact of new ICT’s on the operations of print media resulting in the phenomenon of online publications of news papers and short message services (SMS columns in news papers. This paper focuses on how mainstream print media in Zimbabwe, particularly The Herald and The Sunday Mail, reacted to the concept of citizen journalism. This paper would focus mainly on The Herald and The Sunday Mail. The two news papers have a wider reach of the readership and have been operating for a longer period than other newspapers in the country. In Zimbabwe citizen journalism aided by the rapid strides in the adoption of new ICT’s is taking root globally on the media landscape. This development impacts inevitably on the operation of conventional print news sources and the profession of journalism as a whole. This paper would assess the manner in which the two newspapers The Herald and The Sunday Mail views the phenomenon of citizen journalism. In addition, the paper would also discuss how the two main stream print media responded to the notion of citizen journalism. Again threats posed by citizen journalism to the operations of The Herald and The Sunday Mail would be assessed. The opportunities presented by citizen journalism as well whether mobile technology is the future of journalism in Zimbabwe will be dealt with. Conceptual framework The study benefited immensely from borrowing various media theories and concepts for guidance to ensure that the study is a sound piece of academic work. The study revolves around the democratic participant theory, technological determinism, social responsibility theory, libertarian media theory and development media theory. The theories serve to generate understanding the role of technology in the proliferation of citizen journalism and whether the new concept constitutes an alternative to traditional media. The democratic participatory theory propounded by McQuail (1987) suggests that the mass media should open for ordinary citizens to participate in matter pertaining to their governance and welfare. The democratic participant theory emphasizes that they should be multiplicity of the media, the small scale use of media; media’s local nature, de-institutionalizing the media, the reciprocal role of communicator and recipient, horizontal communication and interaction involvement. The idea that citizens may become sources of information on the “blogsphere” further illustrates how tenets of the Democratic-participant theory are relevant to this study. The technological determinism theory suggests that technology is the driving force behind all the social, economic and political activities of any society. McLuhan (1964) posits that “the medium is the message”. Citizen journalism can be said to be technologically determined because it has made possible by the emergence of new ICT’s chief among them the internet The new ICT’s have also transformed the operation of the mainstream print media Journalists at The Herald and The Sunday Mail now use the internet to source information for their stories and to help them come up with story ideas and for disseminating information to the public through their online publications. Social responsibility theory as postulated by Siebert et al (1963) highlights independence through self-regulation, a forum for different viewpoints and the media’s ethical responsibility towards society. The theory can be linked to citizen journalism which involves private individuals freely deciding on and creating their own content and disseminating it while at the same time serving the social, economic and political interests of the public like what The Herald and The Sunday Mail are doing in Zimbabwe as mainstream print media. The libertarian media theory is based on the right of an individual, and advocates absence restraint (Roelofse 1996:6). Oosthuzein (2002) argues that freedom of the press was seen as essential to inform the free market place of ideas. This theory reflects the practice of citizen journalism which thrives on the free flow of ideas. Citizen journalism is premised upon citizens freely disseminating diverse views and opinions and allowing the recipients to make their own decisions from this information. Development media theory suggests that the media is seen to be central to the achievement of national integration and economic development (Retief 2001:17). Through The Herald and The Sunday Mail newspapers in Zimbabwe citizen journalists should be independent from direct control of government therefore have the opportunity to redefine the agendas of national development in Zimbabwe. Background of the study Although it is clear that the emergence of citizen journalism is conceptually linked to the debates about the normative nature of journalism, it is not until the advent of new media technologies (the internet, World Wide Web, mobile phone that exploded globally (Banda 2008:25). Hallin (1994) has argued that the period from the 1960 to the late 1980’s marked a period of “high Modernism” in American Journalism, as an era when the historically troubled role of the journalist seemed possible for the journalist to powerful and prosperous and at the same time independent, disinterested, public-spirited, and trusted and beloved by everyone from the corridors of power around the world to the ordinary citizen and consumer (Hallin 1994:172). The globalisation of democracy, deregulation of the media landscape, the over-commercialisation of state media, the communication agenda for the democratisation of journalistic communication and the rapid emergence and adoption of new information and communication technologies (ICT’s) are all factors which have led to the change of the media and communication landscape to allow more citizen participation in the practice of journalism. It is important to note that the penetration of mobile telecommunication in Zimbabwe has since the 1990’s been generally higher that of fixed telecommunications a point that can be linked to the emerging of citizen journalism. The term citizen journalism has risen to broad attention since the mid 2000’s (Allan 2009:18), albeit mostly in western countries. Allen therefore argues that citizen journalism plays a particularly salient role in crisis reporting. Much of the research on citizen journalism in Zimbabwe studies include studies conducted by ( Moyo D 2009, Mutsvairo 2012 and Mabweazara 2005). Mutsvairo and Columbus (2012) argued that in Africa, citizen journalism takes place counter parallel to, and interlinked with mainstream journalism. Bloggers and micro-bloggers take up and link to stories published in the online editors of newspapers. The study would analyse how “The Herald and The Sunday Mail” adopt and understand the concept of citizen journalism. Moyo (2009) warns that citizen journalism, while at time provide critical information, by spreading untruths may be fuelling “panic and disorder”. The study would focus on how mainstream print media in Zimbabwe, particularly The Herald and The Sunday Mail react to the concept of citizen journalism. The two newspapers mentioned here have a wider reach of the audience having been in operation for a long period than other newspapers in the country. The Herald is a subsidiary of Zimbabwe Newspapers (1980) Limited based in Harare owned, controlled by ZIMPAPERS. It was first published in 1892 as The Rhodesian Herald. The Argues Press of South Africa helped in the establishment of this publication from the British South Africa Company (BSAC). The Rhodesian Herald was established in 1891 by the Rhodesian printing and Publishing Company (RPPC) linked as The Rhodesian Herald based in Salisbury (now Harare). RPPC had links with the South African based South African Argus Printing Company. The Mashonaland Herald started as a weekly, handwritten news sheet, produced using the cyclostyle duplicating process. It became a printed newspaper in October 1892 and its name changed to The Rhodesian Herald. The newspaper published its first story on 29 October 1892. After Zimbabwe gained its independence from the colonial power in 1980, the Zimbabwean Government was extended US200 by the Nigerians government to buy out the Argus Company shares and managed to acquire 51 percent shares in The Herald, which changed RPPC into Zimbabwe Newspapers (ZIMPAPERS) According to Saunders (1999) the then Managing Director of ZIMPAPERS, Simba Makoni echoed this vision saying, “ZIMPAPERS belongs to the people of Zimbabwe. We are a national asset that promotes development of the people of Zimbabwe as a whole and aspirations of Zimbabwe as a whole. The Sunday Mail was established in 1935 and its founding editor was E.H House. The RPPC setup The Sunday Mail after realising the full potential of The Rhodisian Herald and its sister paper, The Chronicle and The Manica Post. Rusike (1990) contends that the media in Rhodesia especially The Sunday Mail catered for the needs of the white settlers ignoring news of interest to the African majority. During the war of liberation, The Sunday Mail played a pivotal role in intimidating the Africans from joining the war by exaggerating the number of guerrilla fighters supposedly killed by the Rhodesian security forces. From Independence to present the newspaper has been accused of being a propaganda mouthpiece for ZANU PF. In the early 1980’s The Sunday Mail was anti PF ZAPU. After 1999, the newspaper has been anti MDC. With the controlling stake of 51.09 percent of total shares of ZIMPAPERS, the government is The Herald and The Sunday Mail major shareholder. The company’s core business includes newspaper publishing and commercial printing. ZIMPAPERS is a public company that owns The Herald, The Chronicle, The Sunday Mail, Manica Post, Kwayedza, The Sunday News, Nat Print, Typocrafters, and Bold Ads. Methodological issues The design adopted for this study was the descriptive survey research design. It was considered appropriate because it is suitable for collecting data on opinions, perceptions and attitudes and also provides further insight into the research problem by describing the variables of interest. Ary et al (1985) state that “descriptive research” studies are designed to obtain information concerning the current status of phenomena. They are also directed towards determining the nature of a situation as it exists at the time of the study. The survey design allowed the study room to multiple methods of collecting information such as interviews, questionnaires and observations. The study used the following data gathering methods in-depth interviews, questionnaires and observations. These were subjected to both qualitative and quantitative methods of data analysis. Such methods enabled the researcher to attain information closer to reality and validity. These methods were used in collecting relevant data on how mainstream print media in Zimbabwe, particularly The Herald and The Sunday Mail have conceptualised citizen journalism. The study sample population consists of editors and reporters from The Herald and The Sunday Mail newspapers because they are practicing media personnel in mainstream media organisations who are knowledgeable of their profession and current developments such as citizen journalism. The selected journalists from the two media houses were chosen because they constitute a representative sample of journalists in mainstream media from which information required in addressing the research questions can be obtained. The researcher interviewed thirteen reporters from The Herald and thirteen reporters from The Sunday Mail. Thirty questionnaires were emailed to reporters and editors and were returned to the researcher. Open ended and closed ended questions as well as closed questions were used in the interviews and questionnaires. Convenience sampling which Keyton (2001) suggests that it is the easiest way to obtain a sample was used. Hence in the study the researcher simply selected those journalists who are convenient to him as respondents. Perception of journalists from The Herald and the Sunday Mail about Citizen Journalism The consensus among the journalists who were interviewed indicates that citizen journalism has a notable impact in the day to day operation in the journalism fields and that it is not just a passing phase but an enduring process of change with an influence on the operations of mainstream print media especially in Zimbabwe. All respondents hold the opinion that citizen journalism outlets provides opinion and local news from particular neighbourhoods unlike mainstream newspapers which are concerned more with covering issues across larger geographical area. The respondents overwhelmingly agreed that citizen journalism has a potential to provide a multiple and variety sources of information. In Zimbabwe mainstream print media relies on the executive, government officials, prominent business persons, leaders of large corporate bodies and other influential individuals as sources of information. The advent of citizen journalism signifies a departure from this tradition giving voice to the marginalised groups in the society. In addition, the respondents concurred that citizen journalism had the capacity to increase feedback and interaction between mainstream media and the audience through its openness to anyone thereby enhancing the media’s role in serving the interests of the public. The respondents also acknowledged that citizen journalism facilitated more interpersonal communication, one to one and many to many rather than the top down communication which is typical of mainstream print media in Zimbabwe. As observed by Dahlgren (1996:70) information sharing going on in cyberspace tends to increasingly bypass the classical role of journalism. The hierarchical, top-down mass communication model of journalism is being challenged in this new media environment. All journalists from the two newspapers acknowledged that citizen journalism has attributes that have a capacity to improve the journalism profession such as increased opportunities for feedback and interaction Citizen Journalism as threat to formal journalism The majority of respondents through questionnaires expressed that the practice of citizen journalism constituted a negative impact on conventional journalism largely because of its lack of professionalism. Out of a total of thirty respondents to questionnaires, twenty six felt that citizen journalism is a threat to conventional journalism because of lack of professionalism, in-depth and institutional frameworks such as ethics to guide the operations of citizen journalists. Two were in between and two felt citizen journalism is not a threat to formal journalism especially in Zimbabwe. Fifteen out of twenty-five journalists interviewed also felt that citizen journalism de-professionalises and de-institutionalises the field of journalism. Of those interviewed six were in between and four felt citizen journalism is a threat. The general feeling derived from the respondents reflect that citizen journalism is most likely to produce poor quality media products since no formal training is required for one to practice it thereby brining the whole field of journalism in to disrepute. The journalists also felt that citizen journalism would lower the prestige of their profession as it can be undertaken by individuals with no professional qualifications in journalism hence leading the society to regard the profession as lacking credibility. The journalists’ views on citizen journalism are represented below as follows; METHODS TOTAL CITIZEN CITIZEN IN RESPONDENTS JOURNALISM IS JOURNALISM IS NOT BETWEEN A THREAT A THREAT QUESTIONNAIRES 30 26 2 2 INTERVIEWS FACE-TO-FACE 25 15 4 6 TOTAL 55 41 6 8 Table 1 Use of Citizen Journalism content as a source for information Most interviewed journalists indicated that they have access to the internet but seldom use citizen journalism for information sourcing in their stories. All twenty five respondents pointed out that they did not rely on citizen journalism for information sourcing in their stories. The study revealed that journalists from The Herald and The Sunday Mail have not mainstreamed the use of citizen journalism as a source of information for news gathering because they are very cautious when verifying sources online. The interviewee’s response below support the above claim We are guided by strict principles when it comes to credibility of sources as such we do not easily use content from citizen journalism outlets given the difficulty in verifying online sources The need to carefully verify online sources kept on recurring in most of the interviews that were conducted. Despite the fact that the emphasis in the newsroom is to write stories as quickly as possible, respondents disclosed that close attention still had to be paid to ensure that stories were correct and accurate as highlighted by another respondents below Stories have to be written quickly but must be double checked to make sure that they are written well and contain correct information to maintain the reputation of our organisation as a credible source of news. The interviewed journalists indicated that they preferred to use the traditional methods of gathering news through face to face interviews or over the telephone because citizen journalism generated content could not be easily verified for truthfulness and credibility. However, reporters from both The Herald and The Sunday Mail reported that they make use of different website every day to get current news on Zimbabwe as one interviewee outlined; I visit websites such as www.newzimbabwe.com, www.zimdaily.com and www.zimonline.co.za almost on a daily basis because they have very good archives. Despite the fact that the majority of respondents do not rely on content from citizen journalism as source of information for their stories, they still acknowledge that the certain websites assist them in their work. The respondents said the internet is especially useful for verifying whether a story idea has not been covered by other publications. The use of content from citizen journalists by mainstream print media is represented by the table below Method Total respondents Use of Citizen Journalism Content Never use citizen journalism content Interview 25 0 25 Total percentage 100% 0% 100% Table 2 Mobile technology as the future of journalism Most journalists who were interviewed agreed that mobile technology was increasingly taking centre stage in conventional journalism practices and the operation of media houses as a whole. Of all twenty-five journalists interviewed all of them have mobile phones some with three which they use to contact their sources. The journalists admitted that mobile technology brought changes in the news room such as the emerging of news writing and editing. They all said that through mobile technology one could receive information and pictures without visiting physical the scene where news would have occurred. All journalists interviewed have Econet, Netone and Telecel mobile line which they use on their daily routine to contact their sources. Out of twenty-five respondents interviewed, twenty agreed that there was need to integrate citizen journalism and conventional journalism. Out of fifty five respondents interviewed, fifty two (91,6 percent) agreed that there was need in the near future to integrate citizen journalism and conventional journalism to achieve media pluralism and diversity. One respondent (2.7 percent) was not sure whether citizen journalism could be successfully integrated into the operations of formal journalism and two respondents (5.7 percent) were of the opinion that citizen journalism had no place in formal journalism and integration should be avoided. The respondents also outlined that mobile technology could provide a vital link whereby citizen journalists can timely provide information to mainstream print from various locations. This would save the time a reporter would travel to various sites to get a story. The views of journalists on the future relationship between formal journalism and citizen journalism are represented in the bar graph below Bar graph 1 Slow Uptake of citizen journalism by mainstream print media in Zimbabwe The research findings reveal that journalists at ZIMPAPERS have been slow to embrace content from citizen journalism owing to limited access to ICT’s including laptops mobile phones and cameras in the work place. All the journalists from The Herald and The Sunday Mail submitted that they had access to the internet. However, there are only few work stations in the newsrooms, with an average of three journalists having to share one computer with internet connection. As a result the time a journalist has access to the internet is limited the absence of a structure in the work place which incorporates their day to day operations and the work of citizen journalists. Of the total number of journalists interviewed, 54 percent said they used the internet on a daily basis in writing their stories, 27 percent used the intent occasionally in their work and 19 percent professed never to have used the internet for work purposes but for accessing personal emails and visiting social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Skyrock and Skype. The use of the internet by journalists can be shown by the following bar graph . Bar graph 2 Overally all journalists interviewed agreed that ICT’s made their work much easier and improved the quality by broadening the sources of information. However, the study revealed that the journalists lacked knowledge about specialised websites that are available on the internet and training on the use of ICT’s such as the internet in gathering news. The Herald and The Sunday Mail websites The Herald and The Sunday Mail newspapers have got websites which have vast archives. The journalists at the two newsrooms said they prefer to use the websites’ archives overt the physical library because it is faster and makes their work easier. However, the reporters revealed that they have limited access to the archives as a result of the shortage of computers connected to the internet. The journalists also revealed that they had difficulty using the archives because they do not have a search feature. To counter this problem some of the reporters said that they type the date of the publication in which the stories they would be looking for in the website’s URL to get access to the publication sought. Furthermore, The Herald and The Sunday Mail websites also carry the online version of the two newspapers which can be accessed by readers. The Herald online publication offers readers the platform to post comments on the published stories hence enabling readers to express their views on various stories covered. Through this facility, The Herald can be deemed as having embraced citizen journalism by accommodating input from readers. Ethical and professional dangers presented by citizen journalism to professional journalism The study revealed that because citizen journalism is not bound by any institution, professional or ethical regulations and as a result presents a number of ethical and professional dangers to professional journalism. Journalists could conversely regard any collaboration with paid staff, and especially the reintroduction of checks and balances at the output stage which is a common feature for pro-am-model , as citizen journalism selling out in pursuit of broader public acceptance. Indeed, the very term “journalist” has been broaden to include not only core news professionals, but also commentators, hosts, and a variety of other media personalities. With regards to ethics citizen journalists may publish lies thereby flouting the ethical obligation of truthfulness in reporting. The finding of the study also suggests that citizens have outpaced the ethical approaches and underlying normative frameworks of journalism education as they reshape professional notions of journalism and traditional models of civic engagements and participatory democracy. Secondly, citizen journalists may publish material which is unsuitable for the public consumption such as obscene words and pornographic pictures. Another ethical danger presented by citizen journalism is that of tracing sources of information. One may just post information anonymously and there will be no way of tracing the sources of information. One may just post information anonymously and there will be no way of tracing the sources to find out the credibility and accuracy of the story. The respondents from The Herald and The Sunday Mail indicated that objectivity and balance may also be lost in the practice of citizen journalism since an individual can just write any information without being bound to authenticate it thereby misleading the readers. The study also revealed that the practice of citizen journalism may also lead to the loss of confidentiality of sources. A citizen journalist is obliged to protect for example witnesses such as minor children or suspect under trial and therefore cause them harm such as being shunned by the society. Citizen journalism may also publish material which endangers public safety and security. For example, divulging top secret information relating to national or state security as there is no way of regulating or bringing to account sources who can hide their identities to avoid arrest. With regards to professionalism, citizen journalism does not require any professional qualification in journalism for one to practice. Findings of the study were that, this may have the effect lessening the importance of professional journalists whose integrity is based on professional qualifications and wide experience in the field. Citizen journalism does not have editors who can check the stories and gate keep sensitive information to ensure high quality products and this may lead to poorly written stories. As more people turn to online news, consumers for printed newspapers dwindle and this reduces circulation and consequently revenue for mainstream print media. This may have long effects for professional journalism as mainstream print media house would not be able to survive due to loss of revenue. Professional journalism may also be rendered irrelevant by citizen journalists who report about their communities and are therefore closer to the people rather than mainstream print media which mainly concentrates on news of national importance. Conclusion The uptake of citizen journalism by The Herald and The Sunday Mail has been hampered by the fact that their journalists lack the requisite knowledge of the effective use of ICT’s and the internet. The two media houses should therefore institute in-house training of journalists in computer aided reporting and the internet. The two mainstream media houses should initiate a citizen journalism project that integrates citizen journalism and conventional journalism practices to tap into the numerous opportunities that the practice offers. Citizen journalism cannot replace conventional journalism in Zimbabwe but for the present moment and perhaps in the future constitute a vibrant source of information generated by members of the traditional audiences of conventional journalism itself that is the ordinary citizens. The findings of the research indicates that journalists at The Herald and The Sunday Mail regularly use the internet in their work and therefore they should also employ content made available by citizen journalists whose operations are enabled by the same information superhighway. Judging from the total lack of exploitation of citizen journalism generated content by The Herald and The Sunday Mail journalists, points to the fact that much valuable information available in the internet remains untapped to the disadvantage of audiences hence progress needs to be made to improve the situation. References Braston G and Stafford R (2003) The Media Students Book 3rd Edition. London. New York; Routledge: 182-202; 473-488 Banda, F (2008) Citizen Journalism and Democracy in Africa: An Exploratory Study. Grahamstown, HighWay Africa. 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