Investigating the use and impact of social media in Zambian newsrooms between 2011-2013

Journalism research from the last decade has shown that social media continue to take on an increasingly important role in the well-functioning of newsrooms. This ability is seen as an important development in the evolution of media in several countries. However, for countries such as Zambia, studies on the impact and usage of social media on journalism were until recently scant or merely unavailable. This paper provides the results of an early study conducted between 2012 and 2013 that investigated the use of social media among journalists in Zambian newsrooms. The study showed that that even though media houses were formally utilising social media at the time, the usage was mostly dependant on individual newsroom staff. It also showed that usage was still in its infancy at the time and was muddled by challenges such as low internet access, high cost of access and a sense of apathy towards their use