Social Media And Journalism Journalists And Media Outlets Use Of Social Media Networks In Ethiopia

The study aims at examining social media and journalism with particular focus on journalists’ and mediarnoutlets’ use of social media networks in the Ethiopian context. The network society, public sphere, andrnnetwork(ed) journalism theoretical frameworks were used to inform the study. Both quantitative andrnqualitative research methods were adopted for the study where survey questionnaire, interview andrnobservation were used as specific methods for gathering the data.rnA survey questionnaire was administered to 145 journalists selected through a random samplingrntechnique, whereas in-depth interview was held with 17 journalists, editors, and media managers workingrnat three media institutions. Furthermore, an email interview was conducted with a media researcher. Anrnobservation was also carried out by the researcher for gathering firsthand information, and descriptivernstatistics was employed to analyze the quantitative data.rnThe finding shows that journalists use social media for various purposes, such as for getting a new idea,rnto stay connected to the world, for personal and professional development; however, journalists’ use ofrnthe social media for professional purpose is marred with challenges. Their participation in discussion onrnsocial media is not as much of and they have no demarcation for personal and professional use of socialrnmedia. The infamous traditional problem of journalists – self censorship, has migrated to online withrnjournalists due to the new discourse of fear – surveillance and censorship. Hence, journalists kept silent,rnmainly, consuming social media contents while media outlets provide. As off line media outlets are notrnencouraging journalists to use social media, the journalists are forced to adopt a dual identity: one identityrnfor the social media and one identity for the mainstream media.rnThe study also reveals that although there were differences in the use of social media among mediarnoutlets, they were not exploiting the opportunity as they ought to have been owing to various problems.rnWhat is more, the study shows that the rise of social media is posing a serious challenge to state-owned asrnwell as private media institutions in Ethiopia. On the basis of such findings, the study has suggestedrnpertinent recommendations with the view to coping up with the fast changing global media landscape.

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