Reimagining southern Africa’s media scene post-Covid-19
BY ADMIRE MARE
There is no doubt that the coronavirus (Covid-19) global pandemic has reconfigured the way we do things.
It has affected the world of work, disrupted our social lives, forced us to rethink our social and physical distancing protocols and raised our safety and hygiene consciousness.
However, in the midst of all these global disruptive processes, the media industry has found itself taking a huge knock especially with regards to declining levels of advertising budgets, limited print products sales and laying off staff.
Whilst the broadcast and digital media companies seem to have fared much better when compared to their print counterparts, the situation remains very precarious when one adds the ‘digital disruption’ equation into the mix.
Very few media organisations have managed to find sustainable ways to keep their lights one and pay salaries on time.
In countries like Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia and South Africa, the print media has had to deal with the issue of sustainability for a long time.
The entrance of social media companies into the news production and consumption ecosystem led to declining advertising revenue especially for the print media.
The situation has further been compounded by the fast-spreading Covid-19, which has contributed significantly to the closure of several news outlets and retrenchment of journalists across the region.
Some media companies are struggling to pay workers on time while others have huge salary backlog to deal with in the post-Covid-19 context.
In South Africa, for instance, the famous Mail and Guardian came out in the open in the last few weeks highlighting their dire financial situation.
The Associated Media Publishing (AMP), which published Cosmopolitan, House & Leisure, Good Housekeeping and Women on Wheels has already closed shop.
The Daily Sun has announced that it has published its last print issue of the newspaper for regions other than Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West in South Africa.
It is clear from the foregoing that unless something radical is done in the short-to-medium term the post-Covid-19 landscape is likely to characterised by a financially weak media environment.
Such a scenario would make it difficult for the media to undertake investigative reporting and continue with its watchdog role. It would create a conducive environment for the spread of misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories without being debunked by the mainstream media.
Furthermore, such a scenario would lead to a situation where ordinary people rely on social media companies and other popular forms of communication for news and information.
Thus, it is in the public interest of all citizens of the Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) region
In this article, I look at five possible scenarios to look out for in the post-Covid-19 Southern African context.
In addressing these scenarios, I take note of the fluid nature of the situation where find ourselves.
Firstly, the Southern African media landscape is likely to continue to deal with the pressing issue of financial sustainability.
There is a greater likelihood that most print organisations are going to be forced to go online without sufficient time and resources to take on the global tech giants. Unfortunately some media companies are most likely to file for bankruptcy.
Secondly, the issue of safety and security of journalists and media practitioners is likely to receive more attention than ever before.
In the past, the concern has been focusing on safety security protocols when reporting military and electoral conflicts.
In some cases, it has been about digital security awareness workshops on communications surveillance and monitoring of metadata.
Going forward, the provision of personal protection clothing and masks is likely to force newsrooms to recruit someone with safety and health competencies.
This may take the form of appointment of health and safety compliance managers or officers in media houses.
Thirdly, law and order responses to fake news are likely to become a permanent feature thereby negatively affecting the state of media and Internet freedom in the region. Some countries in the Sadc region have implemented statutory regulations aimed at flattening the curve of the spread of misinformation and disinformation related to Covid-19.
Whilst in some jurisdictions, these legal instruments may be repealed after Covid-19; in others it is likely to become part of the statute books with devastating impact on media and Internet freedom in general.
Fourthly, as part of the ‘new normal’, newsrooms are likely to spend less on office space rental as they adopt remote and home working options.
This somehow will force newsrooms to support their staff with Internet routers, data bundles and laptops so that they can continue to deliver on their deadlines.
Fifthly, some newsrooms are likely to launch virtual newsrooms and diary sessions whereby platforms like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Blue Jeans and Google meet are going to play an important role in terms of facilitating collaborative working spaces.
Instead of meeting face-to-face with editors, journalists can pitch stories from their homes.
These technologies are likely to complement mobile phones, social media platforms and emails as channels for news gathering.
Clearly from these five scenarios, the future looks digital although because of the high cost of data, underdeveloped telecommunications infrastructure and limited digital competencies, face-to-face meetings may continue under very strict social and physical distancing measures.
The issue of lockdowns is highly to be a thing of the past thereby allowing vendors of newspapers on our streets to retain to work.
However, in terms of sustainability the print media has to find alternative business and distribution models so that they continue to attract loyal readers and followers.
In short, it is not going to be business as usual in southern Africa but rather a disrupted media environment where the digital becomes a key feature for monetization, consumption, production and distribution of content.
*Dr. Admire Mare is senior lecturer in the Department of Communication at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST). He is also a senior research fellow at the University of Johannesburg. Here he writes in his personal capacity.
