In Malawi, media softens up for youthful audiences but....

Although most people access the news through radio, newspapers and television, media outlets in Malawi have embraced a new way of delivering news to their young audience--who are always on social media.  

Before social became popular, media outlets, especially Times 360 and Nation Online would post lengthy stories on their social media platforms. This was due to, among other reasons, a lack of capacity to file brief stories because their writers were only familiar with writing for print. 

But now things have changed. Reading stories on their platforms, the changes are glaringly noticeable. The writing is light and snappy, enabling their readers especially young people to get the gist of the in countable minutes. It's not surprising, though, that these media outlets have grown their following as well as engagement. Within minutes, for example, a story gets a thousand in likes and dozens in shares. That's progress. 

Such success has been consequential, though. These media outlets have bent the rules, just to accommodate the needs of their young audiences. They have adopted a writing style that presents stories in a dramatized way. 

The first to introduce this writing style was Nkhoma FM, a Lilongwe based radio operated by the CCAP Nkhoma Synod. The radio made gained traction because of how they reported the English Premier League using the vernacular language, Chichewa.

Soon Zodiak’s Innocent Kumchedwa popularised it. He won the Online Journalist of the Year Award by Misa-Malawi 2024. Other media outlets have gravitated towards the same kind of writing.  

But does this writing have some ethical implications? Surely it does. 

On September 9, Nation Online posted on its Facebook page a story of an accident of a motor vehicle that occurred in Area 47 in Lilongwe. A twin cab had served into a roadside drainage system. The driver sustained head injuries. The story read as followings: 

Zovuta kumvetsa! Ngozi ikati ichitike imangochitika basi.

Poyerayera galimoto ili lagwera kuphompho ku Area 47 pafupi ndi sukulu ya pulayiveti Cherub mu mzinda wa Lilongwe. 

Dalaivala wake watemeka m'mutu ndipo athamangira naye ku chipatala.

(Wolemba: Bright Kumwenda)

Now such presentation of stories is what media outlets must refrain. In as much as media outlets wants to reach the young audience as possible, they need to use this humorous style of writing sparingly. 

Yes, they want to keep up with the social media trends, but they need not to entangle themselves in the maze.