NTV’s Madowo Talks to Zetech Journalism Students on Media And Technology

By Abiud Onyach and Samson Babu

Zetech’s Journalism Club hosted Mr Larry Madowo, NTV Technology Editor and Weekend News Anchor, on May 7^th to talk on the ever changing tech world in regard to the media.

Mr Madowo touched on an array of challenges faced by media houses in their bid to adapt with the changing technology. The students put him to task to expound more on his popular show, ‘The Trend’ which is arguably the most engaging show in Kenya today and in actuality one of the most engaging on social media.

While describing what happens behind the scene he painted a clear picture of the great team effort it takes to execute a successful bulletin. The celebrated News Anchor explained how the many men and women behind the scenes remain unappreciated, adding that without them, there would neither be news nor news anchors for that matter.

The budding journalists keenly listened to his articulate elucidation on how news has become conversational because of technology. Days when news anchoring was a one man show and monologue are quickly fading as viewers interact with the news reader and provide quick and immediate feedback.

“The thing that makes most debates and divergent opinions worthwhile, is first and foremost the need of allowing our work to be critiqued by others,  this allows us to get out of our intellectual comfort zones and thus amplify our thinking,” said Mr Madowo.

Worth noting however is that he has attempted, sometimes unsuccessfully, to incorporate video conferencing technology on his show by having guests live from different geographical locations through Skype. A good example was the interview with Michael Faraday which was not well wrapped up due to poor signal.

The NTV Tech Editor further gave examples of the ICC proceedings that were aired from on-line sources; he explained that this technology deprived viewers of broadcast quality, thus employing the technology would mean exposing their audiences to poor signals.

Pursuant to this, students sought to know the steps local media houses are taking to streamline media and technology. “Currently one of the biggest challenge local media houses face in regard to this is the bandwidth constraints,” he cited.

Mr Madowo added that despite the much talked about fiber ad by Jamii Telcom the bureaucracy one has to overcome is enormous. News anchors therefore prefer having live interviews with their guests on set rather than relying on technology for a number of reasons, including aesthetics (poor online footage) or ISP (Internet Service Provider) downtime.

On blogging and journalism, Mr Madowo impressed the gathering by his punch line: “In God we trust, in men we counter-check”. This was meant to show the clear-cut difference between journalists and bloggers with the focus being fact or source verification. While bloggers are not necessarily guided by principles such as objectivity, journalists on the other hand have an obligation to remain objective and give the real account of events.

Mr Madowo was evidently heartbroken to learn that very few of the students in the gathering were running their own blogs, challenging them to “put their work out there”.

The Head of School, Media Arts and Design, Mr Abiud Onyach shot a question to the guest which he himself had been receiving from the emerging journalists. “Why do students have to study journalism in class, while with advanced technology, anyone with means can have a blog, make documentaries with their sophisticated phones and upload everything online?”

Mr Madowo explained that talent is good but one would do far much more if he had the skill; and that skill is acquired in Journalism School. He however quickly added that coming to class and getting notes was not enough.

He challenged the students to be aggressive and have current affairs at their finger tips and utilize the College’s learning resources to perfect their skills.