Negotiating convergence: "Alternative" journalism and institutional practices of Nigerian journalists

Abstract

This article critically interrogates the impact of new information and communication technologies on the institutional practices of mainstream journalists in Nigeria with particular reference to current newsroom practices and how user-generated content (UGC) was incorporated into mainstream media coverage of the 2011 Nigerian election. Rooted in the sociology of journalism, the study employs an ethnographic approach to examine the implications of new information and communication technologies for journalistic practices in Nigeria. With a reading of new information technologies as "alternative journalism", the ethnography, which deployed in-depth interviews with print journalists as well as newsroom observation, investigated whether "alternative journalism" is challenging traditional newsroom culture in Nigeria. The findings suggest that alternative journalism is redefining the roles of mainstream journalists as "news producers". Journalists have become "gatewatchers" with everyone else, especially during the 2011 elections when citizens actively engaged with alternative journalism in reporting the elections. However, mainstream journalists continue to contest their hegemonic traditional practices of giving prominence to "official" sources in news reporting, and negotiate how "alternative journalism" in the form of UGC is networked into mainstream reporting to avoid publishing rumours. The study concludes that contrary to scholarship that sees digital technologies as "de-professionalising" journalists, mainstream journalism in Nigeria maintains the dominant discourse by articulating and appropriating content from "alternative" sources for subtle economic motives.