MCL chief executive calls for discourse on media viability

Dar es Salaam. Nothing worries Mwananchi Communications Limited (MCL) managing director Bakari Machumu more than the apparent lack of discussion around the future of news media organisations in Tanzania.

MCL is the publisher of Mwananchi, The Citizen and MwanaSpoti newspapers, and runs digital platforms headlined by Mwananchi Digital.

Mr Machumu expressed his concern over the future of media in the country on Saturday during a Twitter Space discussion on the State of Media in Tanzania organised by journalists Najjat Omar, Sammy Awami and Khalifa Said.

The discussion was centred around the ongoing transformation taking place at MCL, which includes shifting from being a newspaper company to a fully-fledged digital services media organisation.

“What worries me the most is that both as an industry and as a country we have not seen that there is a problem troubling media outlets worldwide and which threatens their existence,” Mr Machumu said during the discussion. “But this is a seriously needed discussion.”

A 2021 study by Media Futures East Africa Project, an intervention seeking to support media outlets in the region to foster their innovations and sustainability, concluded that news media organisations in Tanzania have not been spared by global trends that put media viability in jeopardy.

Media viability is defined as all factors that influence the continued existence of independent media outlets.

According to Media Futures East Africa, the viability of Tanzania’s news media is threatened by numerous factors.

These include declining advertising revenue, rapid advances in digital technologies that compete for the same audiences, and the attendant high costs of investing in such technology.

Media outlets in Tanzania also face obstacles in producing high-quality journalism from external factors such as political, economic and social pressure, the study concluded.

Mr Machumu, who started his career as a business reporter, admitted that the lack of serious discussion around the issue leaves players with a lot of questions.

“It makes me wonder if we truly appreciate the role of the media as a key development partner or we perceive them as a small mosquito that makes us sleepless at night and thus wish to get rid of it,” he pointed out.

While there are efforts that will have to be made by the government – like reforming all repressive media laws and regulations – Mr Machumu thinks that there are efforts that news media organizations can take internally to ensure their sustainability.

Some of the strategies include revenue diversification through partnerships, projects and events, and extension of digital access to content.

MCL organises regular Mwananchi Thought Leadership Forum (MTLF), runs The Citizen Rising Woman Initiative, Farm Clinic and enters strategic partnerships with companies like Vodacom Tanzania in the case of the sale of e-papers.

MCL also established a dedicated Business Development Unit that turns paid-for-content into engaging news narratives. Such a new approach of sponsored content gives companies more mileage as opposed to running an advert in a newspaper.

“All these initiatives came up to answer the haunting question of how we are going to continue to be here as a company,” said Mr Machumu. “They attempt the question about ‘how MCL funds its journalism’.”

He said that on the debate of whether journalism is a business or a service he would be the proponent of the former, arguing that for a company to be able to provide better services it must know how to run a successful business.

“It’s very simple,” Machumu explained. “You use the money you made doing business to provide your people with the best services. At least that is MCL’s approach.”

One of these efforts, he says, must concern the diversification of revenue sources that news media organisations can rely on to fund their journalism. This, Mr Machumu said, was what MCL was trying and it is what the current transformation drive seeks to achieve.

Other services that MCL offers that help the company stay afloat in terms of revenues include: vontract printing services, Mwananchi Courier and hosting an innovation incubation centre Habari Hub. (The Chanzo)