The time to defend homegrown media is now.
“Until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter,” – African proverb, and according to the Nigerian Igbo proverb: “The axe forgets; the tree remembers.”
These proverbs cut to the heart of our media crisis. The first warns that when we don’t control our storytelling, others will shape narratives to serve their interests, just as global platforms dominate Africa’s digital space while our own media struggles.
The Igbo wisdom reminds us that while foreign platforms may forget their impact, the damage to African journalism endures. Together, they demand action: we must be the lions who write our history and the trees that remember what’s at stake
The fight for survival and innovation
The media is still fighting. Despite limited resources, outlets are diversifying meaningfully.
Print may be receding, but digital publishing is thriving through powerful local brands: proof that homegrown media can adapt. Now, it’s our turn to support them.
Readers must pay for quality journalism. The success of Daily Maverick’s membership drive shows audiences will fund media they value. Governments and NGOs should fund independent journalism through grants, while businesses can sponsor critical media. Events, podcasts, and niche content (financial analysis, agricultural reports) can diversify revenue beyond ads.
Local success stories
- News24 dominates South Africa’s digital space with a robust subscription model, leveraging AI and ad tech to enhance reader experience while producing trusted content.
- Arena Holdings (publisher of Sunday Times, Business Day) balances print resilience with smart digital integration, proving legacy brands can evolve.
- Caxton (publisher of The Citizen) is pivoting to digital through data-driven content and platform investments.
- SABC is expanding its digital footprint with streaming, WhatsApp news, and analytics, blending traditional strength with innovation.
Their edge? Real content, real audiences and strategic tech adoption.
The ethical imperative for marketers
Corporates must prioritise local platforms. Allocating even a fraction of budgets spent on Google, Meta, and TikTok to African outlets could stabilise newsrooms.
It’s time to draw an ethical line: if the SABC can commit to 50% local content, why can’t marketers?
AI-generated content and algorithmically amplified fake news threaten public discourse.
African media, with its local knowledge and ethics, is our best defence. Without funding, fact-checking initiatives will collapse and misinformation will proliferate.
Supporting homegrown media isn’t charity; it’s self-interest. Local firms pay salaries, fund research, and reinvest in our economies. Marketers must split budgets: 50% to local media, 50% to global players.
Why African media matters
No entity understands Africa’s complexities, aspirations and nuances better than African media itself. Foreign platforms dominate ad revenue but lack accountability or cultural sensitivity. When outsiders tell our stories, they risk distortion, oversimplification, or erasure.
Lose control of our narratives, and we surrender a piece of our sovereignty. Foreign media obsess over crises – poverty, conflict – while underreporting innovation and resilience. Homegrown media corrects this imbalance.
Democracy depends on it
A free press is democracy’s bedrock. In South Africa, where corruption persists, outlets like amaBhungane and Daily Maverick hold power accountable. If they fade, who will fill the void?
Hope on the horizon
Yes, print media is struggling (Mail & Guardian, Independent Group). But local media is finding viable digital models and the future looks bright.
Take Broadband, a new South African digital ad initiative launched in May 2024. It offers advertisers a credible local alternative to global platforms, restoring value to independent publishers. This comes as the Competition Commission exposes anti-competitive practices by global ad tech giants.
The choice is ours
Invest in African media now or cede the narrative to outsiders and algorithms.
- Audiences: Subscribe, share, engage.
- Advertisers: Divert spending from global platforms to local ones.
- Policymakers: Tax digital monopolies; subsidize public-interest journalism.
- Philanthropists: Fund investigative reporting and digital infrastructure.
The axe may forget, but the tree remembers. Let’s ensure African media isn’t just a memory.
Janine Hills is the Founder and CEO of Authentic Leadership