Preview of today’s Summit: How newsrooms across Africa are adapting to digitisation of audiences and functions amid an unrelenting news cycle is the story to be told today with case studies focused on transformation, user needs, relevant content, younger audiences, and video and audio.
Be welcomed to the INMA Africa Newsroom Transformation Summit where we will
set the stage for this virtual event and tell the story through the lens
of Africa newsroom and product leaders.
How Nation Media Group is accelerating the pace of digital transformation to be in alignment with the shift in audience
behaviour, user needs, and technology is the focus of this session. This realignment has brought about new ways of working,
reviewing of roles in the newsroom, and allocation of resources. This is all done with the aim of achieving societal
impact and positive influence on society as Nation Media seeks to focus on the issues that matter the most to the people it serves.
How Pulse Africa delivers relevant content to younger audiences across various African countries is
the focus of this session. Pulse Africa has learned that the best way to connect is focusing on
the right format with relevant content on the platforms where they congregate. Pulse Africa’s
mission is to inform and engage Africa’s young people at full speed.
NPL Malawi has adapted many ways to enable its sustainability and growth of operations. Post-pandemic,
NPL faced serious challenges to its business, so they re-thought means of thriving in the new digital
world. NPL made significant strides to grow their online presence and grow the e-paper — and the
response has been overwhelming. NPL has also developed more engagement on social media platforms,
shifted to accommodate new ways of working, and grow the space for investigative journalism to ensure transparency and accountability in the running of public affairs.
BBC Swahili is the largest sub-Saharan Africa language service of BBC World Service, reaching an audience of
30 million weekly across digital, radio, and television platforms. In this session, learn how the service has
undergone a significant transformation and continues to evolve and innovate. BBC News Swahili launched its
TikTok channel to deliver journalism to Swahili-speaking audiences across Africa and beyond by providing
trusted news in an engaging format that resonates with audiences. The TikTok channel features a range of
short-form videos covering politics, culture, society, science, health, and technology. With Africa rapidly
embracing digital news, BBC Swahili knows it is essential to meet audiences where they are — on the platforms they use most.
It is not the end of the world. It is a changing world. In this session, learn how The Daily Sun is
responding to the rapid growth of alternative platforms to get news and information. This response
meant that there was a need to shift gears in the newsroom, moving from a traditional print
media publication and into the online space where journalists use audio and video to tell
stories from the community and raise the voices of the afflicted in the everyday language that they use.