State of the Newsroom: Then and Now: Looking back at the first year of the Pandemic
The latest issue of State of the Newsroom overviews the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the media in South Africa in 2020. It explores the difficult terrain of data and data governance, and how the country’s media should be re-orientating itself to a local data narrative; and asks a group of media practitioners what they thought of Sanef’s report on media ethics. All these – the pandemic and its long-term aftershocks, the fast-emerging data economy, and the chronic challenge of earning back a sense of media credibility and public trust – have the potential to tip the scales for better or for worse when it comes to the future robustness and value of journalism in South Africa.
The report highlights the many ways that the pandemic changed how audiences consume the news, additionally, what the media needs to do in order to adapt to these ongoing changes in South Africa and the globe.
Alan Finlay, the editor of the annual report was in conversation with media practitioners and contributors to the report on the changes that they saw within their newsrooms since the onset of the pandemic.
Download the full report here.
