John Matovu Aminah Zawedde Das Pamela and Herbert Ruhunde.pdf

56 Strengthening the Role of ICT in Development Volume VIII
could in the past only communicate via faxes, telegrams and postal mails. In the
case of research, doing research in the past was time consuming and quite a lengthy
process. Communicating with research stakeholders or sources was also a time
consuming process [Randall, 1996]. The advent of computers and particularly
Internet meant that it has become easier for journalists to research stories online
and to also reach sources making news online [Randall, 1996]. The challenge is
for journalists to identify authentic websites because as more and more people are
publishing on desktop, journalists run the risk of being trapped in the information
glut. In other words, where journalists cannot verify the authenticity of particular
sinister websites, they will run the risk of misinforming their readers, thus losing
credibility.
Where there are no guidelines for good journalism practice in online journalism
operations, information communication technologies will erode the ethics of
journalism. Online journalists need to apply the ethics of journalism online.
Applying such ethics in an online journalism environment seems to be a daunting
challenge facing online journalism operations. Bradley Osborn noted in his research
paper “Ethics and Credibility in Online Journalism” that the immediacy brought
by the online environment, a medium which everyone is a potential publisher,
allows for even less deliberation by the journalist and editor. Osborn argues “online
journalists have received little or no attention from researchers, perhaps few , pure
online journalistic efforts exist, compared to the wealth of trivia, entertainment,
personal communication and pornography” [Osborn, 2001]. It is important to
note that Osborn’s argument in this regard suggests that journalists should strictly
adhere to the ethical code of journalism practice especially because the public is
losing trust in journalism.
Another most important role of ICTs in journalism is content management
systems which allow for journalism operations to manage information and
knowledge effi ciently. Content management systems and knowledge management
systems can be used interchangeably. There is no universal standard defi nition
of knowledge management but generally it refers to techniques which can be
applied for the systematic collection, transfer, security and management of
information within organizations [Ahiabenu, 2007]. ICTs have the ability to
facilitate knowledge management in the newsrooms. Ahiabenu [2007] identifi ed
strategies for knowledge management using technology as; developing a mission
statement for news organizations and creating a resource of useful information
and knowledge easily available on demand to all newsroom staff.
To effi ciently set up an online knowledge management resource centre,
Ahiabenu [2007] suggests that newsrooms should identify the types of knowledge
management systems relevant to their news operation such as copy archive,
commercial databases, databases of experts in specialist areas, wikis, intranet,
Wires, and content routing software. It is apparent that the implementation of
ICTs in journalism such as knowledge management systems driven by technology
will save the journalism operation not only information but the costs for research,