Abstract

The study examined how journalistic practices have influenced news blogging that is done by individual Kenyan bloggers on their blogs. The research is important given the rising role of blogging in news dissemination, and the continued debate on whether the practice is part of journalism or not. The research questions: 1) What journalistic practices are employed by Kenyan bloggers in their work? 2) What are the sources of stories written by Kenyan bloggers? 3) What types of stories do the selected bloggers write? 4) What professional standards and structures guide Kenyan bloggers work? The study employed a mixed methods research approach. The qualitative approach was the main method used to structure the research and collect data, while the quantitative method was used partly in the data analysis stage. A sample size of 29 respondents was used. 20 of the respondents were bloggers while the rest were key respondents from the Kenyan communication sector. Purposive sampling method was used to select the respondents. Data was collected through in-depth interviews between September and December 2016. The findings: 1) Journalistic practices such as verification of facts, research and objectivity have influenced news blogging. 2) Bloggers use news sources similar to those of journalists. 3) A majority of the bloggers interviewed perceive their blogging as a type of journalism. The main difference between blogging and journalism is the lack of professional standards and structures in the former.

Key Words: Journalistic Practice, News Blogging, Professional Standards, Structures, Training

*  Muthoni King’Ori is a Lecturer in Mass Communication in the Department of Communication Studies, St. Paul’s University, Limuru, Kenya

**Karugu Mureithi is a Lecturer in Mass Communication/Film Studies in the Department of Communication Studies, St. Paul’s University, Limuru, Kenya

^JCMR Journal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 9, No. 2, October 2017, 186 – 196