Browsing by Author "Wamunyu, Wambui"

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    An Actor-Network Analysis of the Use of the World Wide Web in a Kenyan Newsroom’s Journalistic Practice: A Case Of Capital Fm
    (Daystar University, School of Communication, 2017-11) Wamunyu, Wambui
    The incorporation of digital technologies in for-profit newsrooms has led to disruptions in journalism hierarchies, business models, norms, and practices across the world. In African newsrooms, these disruptions have received a paucity of scholarly attention, and even those have tended towards policy and regulatory matters, or normative analyses founded on the Western liberal democratic model. This study interrogated the incorporation of the web in Kenyan journalistic practice by following the process as undertaken at Capital FM, the country’s pioneer commercial radio station. The study set out to establish the human and technological actors engaged in journalistic practice at Capital FM, as well as determine the nature of interaction among those actors, and the outcomes of those interactions. The research used a socio-technical theoretical lens and applied case study research design with four data collection tools, namely observation, interviews, netnography, and document review. The study used a six-step framework to reduce, organise and evaluate the data. Actor-network theory informed the identification of the actors, their interactions, and the outcomes of those interactions. A thematic analysis was also applied to more deeply interrogate and interpret the data. The two analytical approaches established that Capital FM practiced a networked journalism enacted by multiple human, technological and corporate actants, resulting in modifications and disruptions that were manifested in various efforts of labour, controversies, movement among actors, new roles, and spatial location. New roles were enrolled into journalistic practice, and new practices had become routinised. Audiences had acquired a powerful role through web metrics which informed journalists’ routines and sense of self-identity. Journalistic practice had a new definition, and the blurring of lines between editorial and promotional content had opened new lines of revenue generation even while disrupting the normative values underlying news production. Globalised practices, such as the use of open-source applications, had standardised aspects of the journalism enacted in geographically diverse networked newsrooms. The study also held that actor-network theory was useful in interrogating power dynamics within a networked newsroom context. The study further posited that a new type of commercial news media company had emerged in the Kenyan context, and was defined under the following thematic categories: organisational culture, key decision makers, content, revenue, and infrastructure. The study recommended greater collaboration and interaction between personnel in the two spatial locations to promote greater innovation around content development and an increased understanding among all of the web’s potential as a news platform. It also posited that the web was treated as an online version of a newspaper. This frequently limited the news content to two-dimensional presentations of news yet human actants in the news production process could make greater use of the web’s multimediality, hypertextuality, and interactivity. The study also called for greater reflection among media houses about the implications of the new revenue generation opportunities vis-à-vis journalistic practice.
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    Exploring Trust/Mistrust in Journalistic Practice: An Actor-network Analysis of a Kenyan Newsroom
    (Daystar University, School of Communication, 2022-02-17) Wamunyu, Wambui
    The entry of non-traditional actors into aspects of journalistic practice has been widely explored in scholarship, as have expressions of the public’s trust in journalistic work. However, there is a scarcity of research addressing the construct of trust in relation to the interactions among traditional and non-traditional journalism actors engaged in news production. Through the use of actor-network theory and by applying qualitative case study design, this study focused on the nature of journalistic practice in a digitally disrupted Kenyan newsroom, and how trust/mistrust manifested itself within the actor-network of journalistic practice. Theoretical and thematic analyses established the social and technological actors that had joined the process of journalistic practice while four findings emerged addressing notions of trust/mistrust within the actor-network. These findings were as follows: trust occurs within an established routinized process; trust is enacted within a particular news media environment; new entrants in journalistic practice need to demonstrate value to gain trusted entry in the actor-network; and trust is engendered at institutional level but needs acceptance at individual level.
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    Moral Authority beyond the Positions and Titles
    (Daystar University, 2024) Kagwaini, Dorothy Muthoka; Musau, Celestine; Mwose, Morris; Ebanda, Raphael; Wamunyu, Wambui
    Moral authority is a kind of substantiated Reliability, Accountability and a deserving to be believed whether through rule of law or mere provided judgements. It cuts across the government, businesses, church, politics, and Individual Leadership. On one hand, positions and titles are used in institutions and organisations to help manage human capital in terms of power and decisions. On the other hand, the positions and titles do reflect the unique value of that person until the person makes decision that are tested for integrity, accountability and transparency. This article was motivated by generation Z’s demand for rejection of the Finance Bill, 2024. The discussion set the base on the Kenyan scenario, moral authority, leadership in government. In conclusion, the spiritual values embedded in the Kenyan national anthem should be guarded and adhered to.
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    Old Habits, New Realities: Digital Newsrooms in Kenyan Commercial Media Houses
    (Daystar University, School of Communication, 2019-06-18) Wamunyu, Wambui; Siguru, Wahutu, J.
    This article addresses digital cultures within the context of the fluid association between the media and the state in the African postcolony. Based on the premise that news organisations construct and disseminate knowledge, the article applies field theory in analysing observed and inferred practices at a radio station and journalism school in Kenya. The article finds that journalism curricula rely on predefined, non-contextualised norms and are yet to fully incorporate digital technologies. Additionally, there is a hybridisation of traditional and newer approaches in training, organisational structures and narrative forms in the Kenyan media landscape. But traditional sourcing cultures are retained, as is the engagement with audiences as consumers, rather than coproducers, of news.
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    Smartphones, Professional Behaviour and Workplace Socialisation in Kenyan Organisations: A Case of Capital FM
    (Africa Journal of Media Communication, 2020-07) Wamunyu, Wambui
    The news media industry globally has experienced a great range of changes due to the entry of digital technologies in journalistic practice. Journalists are facing the challenge of evolving norms and practices in commercial companies which in turn are struggling to generate revenues, as well as keep and grow audiences. The internet-enabled smartphone is among those technologies whose increasing affordability has caused it to be everpresent in journalists’ professional lives. This study’s research objective was to interrogate the use of the smartphone among journalists at Kenya’s pioneer commercial radio station, Capital FM, and the implications of that use on professional behaviour and socialisation. The study uses social learning theory and applies a qualitative case study research design. The data collection tools were observation and 23 purposively sampled interviews, the latter undertaken until saturation was reached. The data show smartphone use has facilitated the fast flow of multi-media content and changes to workplace routines. It has also redefined the nature of interactions among individuals in a working context, and transformed certain newsroom basics or rendered them obsolete. Overall, these changes suggest implications on the future vocational socialisation of journalists. The study recommends further long-term interrogation of the effect of smartphones and other digital tools on professional behaviour to better assess the effects of organisational norms, practices, and structures. Key words: Smartphones, Workplace Socialisation, Work Routines, Digital