Doing Digital Media in Africa: Prospects, Promises and Problems

This publication is based on the latest Africa Media Leadership Conference which was convened in Uganda in May 2008 by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung’s (KAS) Media Programme and Rhodes University’s Sol Plaatje Institute for Media Leadership (SPI). In light of the general global decline in newspaper circulation and the increasing use of online media, the theme of the conference was "Doing Digital Media in Africa", focusing on the wide range of digital media elements and their impact on traditional media.

This collection of essays and analyses from journalists and media professionals is derived from that conference, and looks at the diverse and unique ways that African media houses are experimenting and innovating to meet tomorrow's media challenges today. The publication includes an example of a converged newsroom from Germany that shows the potential of what can be achieved, but also highlights the limitations of concepts from overseas. It also includes examples of working models from African newspapers’ online editions and achievements in the field of social media. In addition, the publication broadly examines where the digital media landscape is headed.

The publication contains the following chapters: 1. The changing media ecosystem: what Africa needs to know (Guy Berger) 2. Mobile media for Africa (Churchill Otieno)3. How African traditional media can tap into new media (Dave Duarte) 4. The money game: a South African perspective (Riaan Wolmarans)5. New media: where is radio going in Africa? (David Smith)6. From “now” to next” (Guy Berger)7. Exotic Mauritius catches up on new media (Subash Gobine) 8. What news? Uganda’s media struggle to stay relevant (Sim Kyazze)9. How media convergence is transforming newsmaking (Jimi Matthews) 10.Ghana eyes mobile telephony in digital transformation (John Yarney) 11.Ivory Coast launches e-kiosk as it enters digital era (Barthelemy Kouame)12. No jet ski, please - The challenges of newspapers in the Internet Age (Matthias Hufmann)