In Eastern Africa, as with the rest of the continent, independent broadcast media only entered the stage around ten years ago. Consequently, today as all media forms are increasingly converging, media executives will have less than cemented trajectories to follow. However, in his presentation, "Survival Strategies for Broadcast Media: Lessons From East Africa" from the Africa Media Leadership Summit, Linus Gitahi, CEO of the Kenya-based Nation Media Group, reminds all of those wary of what to do next that there is great potential to advance media houses and the good of society in this new age.

In the presentation, Gitahi identified "four forces and one tragic event" that have helped shape the evolution of broadcast media in Eastern Africa over the past decade. By understanding these nascent trends media, houses can both improve impending projects, implement new ones and increase financial stability with the use of all sorts of traditional and new media, from print to pixels.

First, Gitahi showed how the AIDS pandemic can be in part addressed through the media - especially broadcast media, which can reach all sectors of a population. "The war against AIDS engendered a whole new generation of innovative use of public affairs information and collaboration of health groups with media, which created and energized large audiences," said Gitahi. The results have been tremendous. Over a ten-year period in Uganda, AIDS campaigns brought infection rates down from 33 to 5 percent.

The Straight Talk Foundation is one such organization, which has galvanized and informed people about the disease. "They began by developing colourful, user-friendly newspaper pullouts which taught adolescents about safe sex, AIDS and to negotiate their sexuality," said Gitahi. Newspapers in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda utilize them to inform their audiences and now there are feature FM programmes based on the material. In some cases, stations are even paid to run the programmes by Straight Talk, boosting the financial stability of the media outlets.  

Next, Gitahi showed how going local, as a reaction to globalization, has been a windfall to broadcast media. "In Kenya, it has opened avenues for the return of old dramas and new plays based on local themestrue, it might be a niche market but a very lucrative one," said Gitahi. The result has put an African face in globalized media or "local voices in an MTV world," said Gitahi. This has also had an affect on advertising"advertisers find they get better value for their money whey they sponsor or buy space on programmes with local faces," he continued.  

This phenomenon also extends to the democratization of media. As democracy building swept the continent in the late 1980s, media also shifted to become more of a two-way stream of communication. "It was no longer acceptable that audiences would be passive consumers of news and programmes, especially on broadcast media," said Gitahi. In Uganda, Ebimeeza (People's Parliament) dissolves the walls of the studio by bringing the radio to people in town halls and bars to engage them in political debate. Surprisingly, such strategies add on barely any additional costs.

The breadth of new information technologies available to newsrooms is the fourth factor that has spurred broadcast media. While many media executives are grappling with how to converge different types of media, prepare journalists and editors, and remain competitive, Gitahi stressed the wealth of this new era. "The impact of the new information technologies that allowed newsrooms to network in ways they hadn't been able to in the past has eased communication with field reporters and allowed media to work simultaneously with text, audio and video from the same platform," he said. With the correct mixture of creativity and strategy, this can also further advance social welfare, the celebration of local life and democratization in the political and civic sense while cutting costs.  

Technological advances have also allowed us refine our public affairs role. For example, in the referendum on the constitution in Kenya, we set up a vote tally centre using the combination of cellphones, satellite phones, the internet and our own intranet that was so much ahead of the Electoral Commission of Kenya that the Commission would actually call us for results, Gitahi said about Nation Media.  

The flip side of this is that these technologies, much like radio in Rwanda, allow for the mobilization of extreme nationalist ideologies, said Gitahi. In the Rwanda genocide of 1994 in which nearly one million people were killed, radio was used as the main propagating force for hate messages. In another scenario, nationalism has also spread with a manifestation of xenophobic attacks in Eastern Africa and elsewhere. This lethal turn, he continued, which is primarily witnessed in developing countries with strong oral traditions, has also become a cogent argument for government control of the media.  

In Eastern Africa, the media is entering a multi-faceted future with just a short history behind it. What will be continued into the future is unknown; however, the valuable lessons and developments Gitahi (raised) should remain on the media scene whereas the tragedy an unrepeated reminder.

Concluding his presentation, Gitahi said, my more private parting thoughts are about something bigger than journalism or broadcast revenueswhat will this generation of people who are growing with the internet, enjoying the freedoms and sovereignty that mobile phones give them to interact with all broadcast media, think of the many journalists in Africa who paid a high price for the freedoms that some of them are already taking for granted  

To read Linus Gitahis article please visit: http://www.kas.de/proj/home/pub/82/2/dokument_id-13964/index.html 
to download the 2007 anthology in full. Below are the Contents of the anthology. 

Revenue Generation for Robust African Media:
Practical Ideas, Experiences and Innovations of Frontline Managers

Edited by: Francis Mdlongwa

Published in association with Rhodes University’s Sol Plaatje Institute for Media Leadership (www.spiml.co.za; www.spiml.com )

Contents

Editor’s Note iii

Francis Mdlongwa v

Frank Windeck

CHAPTER 1.
An Overview of Key Pan-African Media Development Initiatives: Problems and Prospects  1
By Fackson Banda

CHAPTER 2.
Strategies for Newspaper Companies in Saturated Media Markets: What Africa Could Learn from Northern Media 11
By Christian Zabel

CHAPTER 3.
Veteran Journalist Establishes Model Radio Station in ‘Middle of Nowhere’ 19
By Mike Daka

CHAPTER 4.
Survival Strategies for Broadcast Media: Lessons from East Africa 27
By Linus Gitahi

CHAPTER 5.
Challenges of Audience Measurement in African Broadcasting and
How to Turn Audience Measurement Into Money 33
By Nanzala Mwaura

CHAPTER 6.
Challenges of Audience Research in African Print: How to Turn Audience Research into Money 39
By Chaacha Mwita

CHAPTER 7.
Exploiting Traditional Content Through Online Platforms  45
By Felicity Duncan

CHAPTER 8.
Webcasting, podcasting and mobile broadcasting  53
By Pfanani Lishivha

CHAPTER 9. Potential for pan-African Radio 61
By David Smith

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s) and not do necessarily reflect the views of the AfricaFiles' editors and network members. They are included in our material as a reflection of a diversity of views and a variety of issues. Material written specifically for AfricaFiles may be edited for length, clarity or inaccuracies.

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