Disruption in the media industry, by Julius Ogunro

One profession that has been greatly disrupted by technology is the media. This has significantly impacted how we consume, produce, and store media products. From print to broadcasting to film, the media industry has been so transformed to the point of being unrecognizable.

In only a few years, we have gone from the point when there were only two main branches of the media—print and broadcasting—to having a significant third, social media, which has disrupted the industry and integrated other forms. On Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, you can read text, watch videos, or have both of them combined, and have immediate feedback.

The concern is that this new form will make the traditional media obsolete. Why read a newspaper when you can get second-by-second information on Twitter or Facebook? Why go to the cinema when you can watch the latest movies on YouTube?

I don’t think the old media forms will become irrelevant. Like books did with the advent of TV and radio, newspapers and the old media will survive the onslaught of their latest sibling.

True, social media can impact traditional media negatively, as evidenced by the dwindling numbers of newspaper readers or TV viewers. But the old media can evolve, leveraging the new form to reach their target or newer audiences. The song has changed, and so have the dance steps. Thankfully, many traditional media houses do this and leverage social media, with a big chunk of their income coming from this.

My worry is that media training will not catch up with the innovations in the industry. When I was a Mass Communications student at the university, our training was a few steps behind industry practice, and that was before the latest innovations.

I wonder what they teach communication students in Nigerian universities today.