One in four South Africans get their news from individuals rather than organisations, a report looks at these people to understand how they fit into the changing media landscape.
The news media in South Africa are looking at an existential threat, and the shot has already been fired. Many legacy brands that we know and still, despite everything, trust will almost certainly disappear in the next few years.
This will be no news to you, but those who care about being informed, and who realize how fundamental a functioning free press is to the survival of open societies like ours, may be wondering what will happen next?
What comes next is already here. By September 2024, one in four people in South Africa get their news from individuals rather than organisations. A recent US-based report News, Technology and Innovation Center (CNTI) in collaboration with code for africa (CFA), looks at these individuals, variously called “news producers” and/or “indie information providers” (and more on those terms later).
The title of the report is “South African Indie Information Providers: Responding to resource shortages with creativity and collaboration” And a survey of 43 “content producers” and in-depth interviews with 18 of them yielded some interesting insights.
Purpose of the report? To understand the background of news creators, their motivations, relationships with their audiences…