Electronic Newspaper (E-newspaper) Consumption Among Kenyans – a Case Study of the Daily Nation

Abstract

Newspapers have played an important role in many societies keeping people informed and up to date with the latest news and developments. For long, newspapers have often been in the print format. Today, however, there is a shift towards online newspapers because of the impact of technology and the internet. The main objective of this study was to find out if the e-newspaper readership among Kenyans is fast replacing the print newspapers. The research utilized the qualitative approach and the case study as the research design to answer the research questions. The target population included journalists and readers of both ends that work for the Daily Nation sampled using purposeful sampling technique. They were interviewed using open-ended questions and the subsequent data analyzed using thematic analysis. The objectives included: (1) To find out the patterns of e-newspaper readership in Kenya; (2) To compare the trends in readership of e-newspaper and print newspapers; and (3) To analyze whether e-newspaper is a threat to print newspaper. On the first objective, the study found out that the majority of Kenyans that read the e-newspapers are of the younger generation. They are predominantly male. They are tech-savvy and work in the blue-collar job group thereby most likely living in towns. On the second objective, there seems to be no much difference between the e-newspaper and the print newspaper. The style, as well as the look and feel of both newspapers appear to be largely the same. The only difference is the medium through which the stories are being delivered – the traditional newspaper is delivered on print paper while the e-newspaper is delivered online on the digital platform. E-newspapers offer breaking news, offer more ways to pay, and offer better appearance, personalization, immediate update of news, ease of use, as well as functions such as chats. On the third objective, the finding was that although the e-newspaper is a threat, it still has some catching up to do. However, news media need to accept that print media is slowly fading away and their day may come. This is why innovation is important.