Date of Award
2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Executive Masters in Media Leadership and Innovation (EMMLI)
First Supervisor/Advisor
Prof. Nancy Booker
Department
Graduate School of Media and Communications
Abstract
The decline in the number of young people consuming news media is a phenomenon occasioned by the digital migration of the youthful population, media content disruptions, market competition and rapid technological innovations. These forces, together with the highly youthful population in Uganda that has either migrated to digital platforms or are digital natives have not only resulted in shifts in consumption habits but also a decline in legacy media consumption. Using The New Vision as a case, the project sought to analyse and explore media news content changes and youth news consumption levels in the Ugandan media focusing on key news content formats of The New Vision to promote the legacy media’s revenue generation. The ultimate objective of the project is to design a model that would enhance the youths’ consumption of news from the legacy and professional news media and identify the affordable cost for the same. The study employed a mixed methods research design, utilising a combination of methods for data collection. A total of 50 newspaper copies from The New Vision for the January to October 2022 period were selected. To obtain qualitative responses, 18 key informants were interviewed and two focus group discussions were conducted. Statistical, interpretative and thematic analysis methods were used to process the data. Findings suggested the existence of evidential associations between contemporary news content structure and the youths’ news media consumption, but with moderately weak linkages to youth preferences. Results further revealed that news content production challenges had rendered the production assets of the media house idle, reducing the prospects for youth employment, loosening media house control on staff and undermining the news content which is intricately connected with youth news content preferences. The findings also illustrated how the youth mostly accessed their news from digital platforms, suggesting they contained relevant news content. The study recommends revamping of the broadsheet to reflect youth preferences embodied in the media house’s digital platforms, media literacy, youth involvement in news gathering, and the audiences to increase media news consumption. The business model formulated builds on these innovations, indicating the direction of future media news content reform and its consumption among the youth in Uganda.
Recommended Citation
Atuhaire, A. B. (2024). News media content shifts and declining youth news consumption in Uganda’s legacy media: a case study of the new vision. (Unpublished master's dissertation). Aga Khan University, East Africa.