Abstract:
Journalism education and training is changing due to the rapidly evolving information
communication technologies. These technological developments have transformed the
media environment leading to new ways of communication. As a result, there has been
concern about the impact of digital technologies and consequently, appropriateness of
journalism training in Kenya. The purpose of the study was therefore to establish the
status of digital media training in four selected universities in Kenya, identify challenges
and recommend strategies for improving digital media training in the country. The
objectives of the study were: to established the status and adequacy of digital media
training; to examine the perception of students and lecturers on digital media teaching
and learning in universities; to determine the digital media skills that are crucial in the
labour market and essential for training of journalism students; to identify the challenges
that journalism schools face in learning and teaching digital media and to propose
strategies for addressing the identified challenges. The study was guided by the diffusion
of innovation theory and study adopted a survey research design targeting a total
population of 223. Mixed research approach was used in the study. Stratified sampling,
simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques were used to select a sample
size of 122 respondents. To ascertain the reliability of the instruments, a pilot study was
undertaken at Moi University, Department of Communication and Public Relations and a
total of 15 respondents were used. The department used in the pilot study was excluded
from the study. Data were collected from various categories of respondents including
lecturers, undergraduate students and editors. The study used interviews and
questionnaires to collect data. The quantitative data were analyzed descriptively where
mean, percentages was used. The analyzed data and findings were presented in charts,
frequencies and graphs. The findings show that the graduates have inadequate knowledge
and skills on web technologies, digital information systems, use of new digital equipment
and software. It is recommended that universities should review journalism training and
integrate their curricula with digital media courses required by the market. Furthermore,
the study recommends that journalism departments need to identify and provide resources
that enhance the quality of digital media training.
