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CATHERINE GICHERU
Country of origin: Kenya
Position at work: Editor, The Star
Sponsor: Thomson Reuters Foundation
DANIEL GRIFFITHS
Country of origin: UK
Position at work: Journalist, BBC
Sponsor: BBC
to produce a newspaper with an everdecreasing
number of staff, while at the
same time discovering and trying out new
revenue models in the digital field. But is it
possible This research paper tries to answer
the question of how a regional newspaper
company in particular can make the digital
transition and redesign itself. It studies the
regional press because there is less research
about the local media, which have an important
mission in serving democracy. The research
gives examples and identifies five steps for
making the digital transition in a regional
newspaper company, which are (1) disrupt
your own business, (2) create a digital-minded
management, (3) change tasks to change the
culture, (4) build new capabilities, and (5) build
the local community on every platform.
REUTERS INSTITUTE ANNUAL REPORT ’13-’14
Research project:
Research project:
Challenges facing independent
newspapers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Looking at the development of independent
print newspapers in Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria,
this paper suggests how the success of such
newspapers can be measured and looks at
the impact that the development of new
media technologies such as mobile telephony,
the internet, and social media are having
on print newspapers, and the challenges
and opportunities that these present to the
newspapers. Recognising that the region
cannot be considered homogeneous, some of
the key findings that can be applied generally
are that (1) Economic and business pressures,
especially from advertisers, and owner/editors,
present some of the biggest challenges on
the business development and the editorial
independence of newspapers, over and above
political/legal pressures. (2) Print newspapers
are not exploiting the growing opportunities
presented by new media, especially mobile
internet, to reach a broader audience.
(3) Integrity and professionalism of news
practitioners, quality content, and editorial
independence are rated highly as the measure
of success of independent print newspapers.
I feel privileged,
because for once I have had
plenty of time to think of my
work and deepen my expertise.
KIRSI HAKANIEMI
Politics, pollution and
pandas: mainstream media
coverage of China
This research involved content analysis
of mainstream media reporting of China,
examining two different weeks’ coverage on
the websites of the BBC, the New York Times,
and The Economist. Initial findings suggested
that coverage was restricted to a handful
of dominant themes such as politics, the
economy, and environmental pollution. Other
narratives that might offer equally important
insights into the country’s rapid transformation
received much less attention.
KIRSI HAKANIEMI
Country of origin: Finland
Position at work: Digital Media Manager,
Keskisuomalainen Newspaper
Sponsor: Helsingin Sanomat Foundation
Research project:
From a print house to a
technology company:
how to reinvent a regional
newspaper in the digital age
Nowadays a newspaper company is expected
JAMES HARKIN
Country of origin: UK
Position at work: Freelance foreign
correspondent, Syria/UK
Sponsor: Thomson Reuters Foundation
Research project:
Good media, bad politics New
media and the Syrian conflict
The relationship between new media and
uprisings is mired in hyperbole and cynicism;
too often boosters think of new media either
as a panacea for freedom-loving movements
in Europe and the Middle East, while critics too
easily dismiss it as a trap. Based on my own
experiences in reporting the conflict, this paper
uses the Syrian conflict as a practical example
to think about the benefits and disadvantages
of using media to foment radical social change
and argues that a focus on the shiny new
tools of new media as a way to communicate
with the outside world can distract social
movements from the hard work of trying to
build their movement at home.