Nation Media Group shuts down TV and radio stations

June 30, 2016
Nairobi, Kenya

Nation Media Group shuts down TV and radio stations

Nation Media Group shut down three of its media outlets namely QTV, Nation FM and the Rwanda-based K FM.

The group defended its decision, saying it was a necessary move to secure its business position in the market. The company has operations in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.

"We are cognisant of the changing trends of how our products are being consumed. In line with this new reality, we are reorganising ourselves with the aim of transforming NMG into a 21st century company by embracing digital as the business model," a statement sent out reads in part.

The statement went ahead to explain that the rationalisation will entail consolidating the two television stations (NTV and QTV) into one strong multilingual station.

"We will also scale down our radio business (QFM and Nation FM) in Kenya and K FM in Rwanda. We will keep our signal alive and maintain an online presence in line with our new digital strategy," it added.

Source: Nation Media Group shuts down TV and radio stations

Citizen Journalism vs. Professional Journalism , Who is winning?

Citizen journalism; the process of members within the public playing an independent role in collecting, reporting and distributing, current and breaking news events, has recently become very popular(i). New media technology such as social networking eg: Twitter, Facebook and Blogger, have given everyday citizens the ability to transmit information globally; a power which was once only reserved for large media corporations (ii).

Is citizen journalism a reliable source of news? Will citizen journalism replace professional journalism? Do these two forms of journalism have the potential to co-exist? If so, is it necessary and can a balance be found?

One of the primary aims of journalism is to be objective and present an unbiased, factual account of news events. A strict code of ethics is adhered to by all professional journalists when doing so to maintain and preserve public trust, confidence and reliability (iii). To ensure this the process of ‘gate keeping’ is upheld within mainstream media (iv). This relies on all experienced and trained journalists and editors to filter any nonfactual information from news reports before publication or broadcasting (v). Citizen journalists are untrained in such journalistic methods and are therefore at risk of using unreliable sources and publishing incorrect or in-factual news.

Citizen journalism is also often viewed as ‘by the people, for the people.’ This is because many find citizen journalists ‘relatable and honest.’ Popularity within this opinion has spread as citizen journalist’s gain more public attention, trust and confidence.

This poses a very controversial question; with the popularity of citizen journalism growing, will it replace professional journalism and large media corporations?

Source: Citizen Journalism vs. Professional Journalism

With digital migration bringing in firms like dstv to not only share your profits and charge you for airing of your services but also end up airing a host of hundreds of other stations initially inaccessible in one's country, restructuring is mandatory. It only makes sense for them to do away with channels duplicating work of others and streamline their operations

Livale, actual NMG duplicate her news! I don't like their copy n paste of news btn the Citizen n the Nation

It's more of in corporation duplication between subsidiaries of NMG. For me, KTN of standard media offers a truly uniquely original feel. Not that I dislike the others.