Browsing by Author "Joseph, Regina"

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    Journalism industry preparedness and coping strategies in the emergence of social media: Analysis from selected media firms in Tanzania
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2016) Joseph, Regina
    The rise of social Media over the last ten years has seen a significant on the way in which news is reported and digested by all parties within journalism, with traditional journalists taking on a developed role utilizing social media as both a way to deliver and to promote their work. The study examined the Tanzania’s journalism industry preparedness and coping strategies in the emergence of social media. The study employed descriptive and regression analysis from 106 journalists sampled from media firms based in Dar es Salaam city. Results indicate that, about 94 percent of respondents confirmed that their firm use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram ect for professionalism. About 84 percent of journalists surveyed strong agree or agree that, they use social media for sourcing news and 75 percent of respondents use social media for professional purposes. Majority used social media to interact and determine their reaction in their daily work. All respondents (100 percent) supported that they incorporate social media to engage audiences. About 74 percent of respondents strong agreed or agreed that, their media firms allow distribution and sharing of news. Respondents believed that convergence would lead to more profit generation (66 percent), lowering cost of operation (63 percent), promote differentiation of products and services they offer (61 percent). The results also indicate that, about 69 percent of the respondents believed that, partnering will lead to lowering cost of operation and will eventually create firms competitive advantages. This was also supported by regression analysis which found that, the p-values for convergence of traditional media with the social media were P=0.000 and P=0.001 implying to positively and significantly influence effective use of social media in journalism industry. The R-Square was 63.5% indicating that the convergence and partnering were good predictors of the effective usage of social media in the journalism industry. It was concluded that, Where Tanzania’s journalism Industry is prepared and has put the coping strategies in place, it will still be at competitive edge despite the emergence of social media. It is recommended that media firms should use these social media in a strategic and productive way by setting good terms through partnership to cope up with dynamics of Journalism Industry.