Exploring coping mechanisms to digital convergence in Uganda’s traditional newsrooms : a case of Vision Group

Abstract

This study explored Coping Mechanisms to Digital Convergence in Uganda‘s Traditional Newsrooms: A Case Study of Vision Group. The study objectives were; to examine how Vision Group newsrooms positioned themselves to cope with the new digital landscape in their journalistic work; to find out how Vision Group journalists adopted new digital changes in their journalistic work, and to find out the challenges faced by Vision Group newsrooms and journalists in their digital adoption process. Media Convergence Theory and Adaptation Theory were the anchors of the study. The research approach was qualitative and the research design was a case study. The study employed a sample size of 12 respondents, including journalists, editors, and managers. The respondents were purposively sampled. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with the selected participants at Vision Group. The findings were presented through a narrative method. This study found that the newsrooms were employing strategies, such as training of newsroom staff, acquisition of mobile apps, adoption of social media platforms, such as Facebook, X and Instagram, restructuring and regrouping of staff, blurring newsroom physical walls and provision of equipment to journalists, to cope with the ever-changing digital landscape. The study further established that journalists adopted the new digital tools in their journalistic work through constant training [through workshops and/or self-teaching], acquisition of modern gadgets, such as smartphones, which they employed to gather news tips from social media platforms. Findings also revealed that journalists adapted to the new changes through training, overcoming resistance towards the new changes, experimenting with multimedia content production and leveraging technology for news gathering and production. Furthermore, this study revealed that in a bid to embrace digital convergence, newsrooms and journalists encountered challenges, including limited digital skills, negative attitude towards the new digital changes, lack of preparedness for the newsroom convergence, lack of the required equipment, high cost of acquisition of digital tools such as mobile apps, fragmentation of audiences across the various social media platforms, and expanded workload due to reduced newsroom staff. Despite these challenges, this study concluded that Vision Group has registered significant progress towards digital transformation. However, the study recommends that the media group devises robust mechanisms of motivating newsroom staff to adopt the new changes such as attendance allowances during training, as this study established that training alone had not done enough to encourage staff in the adoption and adaptation process.