Media houses are being encouraged to enhance production of local content to encourage local consumption.
The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) Mombasa Regional Coordinator Maureen Mudi says production of local content is riddled with several challenges including limited resources, competition from online content producers and media houses producing content that is monotonous to the audience. She encouraged the media house to guarantee the content they publish was of public value.
“Try to strategise and re-engineer your mind on how to create content that will be appealing to your audience. The content can be monetised in order to earn the media house some moneys”, Ms Mudi told Al-Shifaa radio, TV and online journalists during a training on production of local content at the station’s premises.
Ms Mudi commended the station for being pioneers of online local content production in the coastal region and encouraged them to expand, reminding them of the media laws that require local media houses to air 40 percent of local content in TV and radio broadcast..
She underscored the importance of balancing news and content, as well as diversify the content that they disseminate to enhance professionalism in the media industry.
“Lack of diversification of content will encourage low ratings for your media house. Let us have a way of varying content in order to give the audience an assortment of content that is of interest to them”, she said.
Ms Mudi urged Al-Shifaa Radio to incorporate user-generated content as long as it does not breach the Code of Conduct for the Practice of Journalism in Kenya to attract more traffic on their site
Ms Mudi mentioned that the Council is encouraging any attempts at increasing Kenya's media capability in local content production.
She pledged to work with institutions to ensure students are accredited to enable them to join internship programmes offered by media houses.
Al-Shifaa Media Group Managing Director Mr Juma Mwalim Mwaguzo and Station Manager Mr Peter Maseke, lauded the Council for its efforts to mentor and grow young journalists through trainings and collaborations.
“Our intention as a station is to grow beyond our limits and we are currently investing in purchasing a state- of- the- art equipment for quality content production”, said Mr Mwaguzo.
Despite having all their platforms purely online, Alshifaa TV and Radio provided feeds for other stations in the Coastal region during the Technical Working Group debates for Governors in Kwale, Kilifi and Mombasa counties in last year’s elections. They were also instrumental in the commemoration of the 2023 World Radio Day by providing live coverage for the football match dubbed the Amani tournament.
“We are pleased with the Council’s efforts to work with us and train us on issues that are of beneficial to us as a media house. With this training on local content generation, we can be able to reach a far greater audience in our local area”, noted Mr Maseke.