The Perceived Effects of Social Media/Facebook on the News Contents of Addis Zemen and Reporter Amharic Newspapers
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2019-12
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
AAU
Abstract
The main purpose of the study was to assess the perceived effects of social media on the news content of Addis Zemen and Reporter Amharic newspapers”. In order to meeting the objectives of the study, four research questions were prepared. 1) What are the and disadvantages of social media for Addis Zemen and Reporter Amharic newspapers? 2) How social media influence Addis Zemen and Reporter newspapers? 3) How Addis Zemen and Reporter Amharic newspapers try to mitigate the influence? 4) What are the major shifts occurred on both newspapers due to the proliferation of social media? The study answered these questions by using qualitative and quantitative (mixed research design). The study used purposive sampling technique to collect data through survey questionnaire, individual in-depth interview and assessment of newspapers which were in the period of 1 April, 2018 – 30 August, 2018. A total sample of 30 journalists was selected to fill the survey questionnaire and to support the findings of in-depth interview. Whereas, four media professionals like producers, editors-in-chief’s and managing editors were purposively selected for the in-depth interview to collect the main data. The study revealed the following major findings. The first one was, however, social media influence the printed newspapers to focus on planned and analytical stories; mostly they were trapped by covering event based stories. The second one is that even social media gives an ample opportunity for the media industry; printed newspapers have not been exploiting the potential of the social media to the best of their interest. The third one was because of social media printed newspapers were challenged to cover event based stories and they were lead by social media and the reputations of printed newspapers in playing the role of forth state were took by the booming of social media become challenged. Therefore, printed media organizations must give especial attention to escape from these hindrances to perform a better achievement in the industry, it needs especial attention by the media houses, Ethiopian broadcasting Authority (EBA), media training institutions, media researchers as well as media policy makers.
Description
Keywords
Newspapers, Social media, technology, convergence