Elizabeth who described herself as of ‘Greater Gayaza’ sent me an interesting comment by SMS on one of my recent columns that I, unfortunately, only saw last week. My apologies to her.
Here are her thoughts:
‘People get bored reading news from professional journalists. You are soon going to be phased out. Radio station presenters, ‘comedians’ give us all the news we want. Also, we aren’t very sure if the journalists didn’t get the news from bloggers! I am supplementing on your column, ‘How journalists can use Artificial Intelligence’ (Daily Monitor, March 27).
In this, she raises the old questions of whether legacy media and journalism [as we know it] will survive the onslaught of social media, citizen journalism, creator journalism, and celebrity banter.
I shall start with the latter. On Thursday as I drove to town and listening to one of the radio stations, the presenters mentioned what happened today in history. One of the items mentioned was the June 4, 1979 coup in Ghana (also known as the ‘June 4th Revolution’) in which coup leader, Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings spearheaded execution of several former leaders deemed to have been corrupt.
They included two former presidents. One of the presenters then said Flt Lt Jerry Rawlings was actually not a soldier but a pilot, presumably like ‘flight’ Captain Mike Mukula or Francis Babu.
Now, that is the quality of news and information that one will get from banter of radio presenters! The two are different!
‘A Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt or F/L) is a junior commissioned officer rank in the Royal Air Force (RAF) and many air forces with British influence, ranking above Flying Officer and below Squadron Leader. It is a NATO OF-2 rank, equivalent to a Navy Lieutenant or Army Captain.’
On the other hand, ‘A flight captain (pilot in command) is the highest-ranking officer on an aircraft, holding legal responsibility for the safety of the crew and passengers’.
That said, news blogging and creator journalism delivered via social media has indeed turned audiences away from traditional journalism in part because of how creatively it is delivered, the convenience to consume it, the informality, the cost to the consumer, etc.
It is also true that ‘news avoidance is at an all-time high, with 40 percent of people globally reporting that they sometimes or often avoid the news. Driven by fatigue, this trend is caused by news making people feel overwhelmed (39 percent), stressed, or powerless, with many actively restricting their consumption to protect their mental health’. This is up from 29 percent in 2017.
In spite of all the above, professional journalism still matters and will not die. The main reason is that ‘…it provides verified, independent, and contextualised information, acting as a crucial watchdog for democracy in an era of rampant misinformation.
By upholding rigorous standards of fact-checking, professional journalism holds power accountable, offers a trusted alternative to echo chambers, and provides essential, evidence-based reporting on critical issues’.
The folly of settling for comedians and influencers as the main source of news is well summarised by Suhaib Ayaz in his article, ‘Why journalism still matters’ published on March 11, 2026 in Asian News Network (ANN).
He wrote: ‘A social media feed without filters is a chaos of voices and, in that chaos, the loudest or most charismatic or most monetised story often wins – not the most accurate one.’
He adds: ‘So, when we reflect on the current media landscape – with every celebrity hosting a podcast, every athlete broadcasting their ‘truth’ and every influencer claiming authenticity – we should remember this: truth doesn’t broadcast itself. It is uncovered, verified and reported. That’s what journalism does. And that is why journalism – real journalism – still matters.’
Still, we must take Elizabeth’s perspective seriously as legacy media navigates these perilous times.
In so doing, let us remember that the journalism that will return her and others to pay for it is not press conference journalism, or public relations journalism, or he said/she said journalism, or sensational journalism.
It will be well-curated enterprise journalism delivered creatively and in easily and conveniently digestible bites – so to speak.