"Measuring the quality of news media is a crucial yet often overlooked aspect of enabling informed decision-making among citizens. Despite the lack of consensus on its definition and measurement, this paper introduces a practice-oriented methodology for evaluating news media quality across print, ra
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dio, and TV. The methodology utilizes quantitative content analysis based on quality criteria derived from democracy theory and refined by journalism professionals and media non-governmental organizations. Since 2017, we have tested and applied this methodology in Tanzania, demonstrating its effectiveness in tracking overall trends in news media quality and evaluating the performance of individual outlets. The findings from the quantitative content analysis were validated through qualitative interviews with editors and reporters. The conclusions of the qualitative interviews confirm the validity of the measurement tool. This methodology can serve as a model for scholars and countries seeking to study news media quality, thereby ensuring that citizens are better equipped to navigate the complexities of information in today’s rapidly evolving media landscape. Furthermore, this paper makes a significant contribution to the scholarly discourse on assessing news media quality, a field that is still evolving." (Abstract)
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"The quality of journalistic reporting in Tanzania reveals a twofold pattern. On the one hand, there is a significant increase in quality in 2022 relative to the quality performance reported in 2019. In fact, the performance in many quality criteria for all media types has improved in terms of multi
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ple sourcing, reporting from more than one perspective, explaining root causes. Nevertheless, these improved performance levels still need further enhancement for tangible benefits to materialise. On the other hand, some areas remain entirely low-key and need drastic changes. In this regard, there are still fewer pieces than 2019 offering opinion and viewpoints (11%), and hardly any media pieces showing opposing viewpoints in the same unit (below 2%). Moreover, few media units (below 4%) express arguments critical of the government. This neglected area should be a source of grave concern and one that requires attention from all and sundry in the media fraternity. The positive development occurred mainly on TV newscasts and programmes. Multiple sourcing, reporting with more perspectives, root causes manifested in 2022 mainly in both TV newscasts and programmes. A notable increase in performance is also evident in radio news, albeit on a lesser scale than on TV. In radio programmes, the performance level has stabilised with no notable upward movement. In contrast, newspapers exhibited a minor positive development. Apparently, some TV and radio stations improved their quality of journalistic reporting at a time when the print sector stagnated." (Executive summary)
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"This study profiles Tanzanian journalists at a time when the role of the media occupies the centre stage. Specifically, it seeks to answer this critical question who are Tanzanian journalists? In terms of socio-demographics, work environment, specialisation, editorial autonomy, professional attitud
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es and beliefs, institutional trust, and major threat in exercising their journalistic freedom." (Introduction)
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"This report offers an upstream view of the newsroom in the country. It looks at the newsroom environment and operations. Specifically, it looks at the newsroom staffing, revenue sources, specialisations, in-house training, and quality assurance, as well as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on new
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sroom operations. Whenever media stakeholders meet to discuss the state of the newsroom in the country, the typical conversation revolves around these issues-as they have the potential of bettering or worsening the newsroom operations-and how they have shredded the newsroom operations in the country." (Introduction)
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"The overall quality of media reporting in Tanzania in 2019 has gone down. Compared to 2018, the Media Quality Index for all media dropped from 28% to 26.8%. Among media types, the print media’s performance dropped most. Many aspects illustrate the trend. It is clear that media houses now rely on
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even fewer sources compared to 2018. Overall multiple sourcing dropped by 5%. Worryingly, sources were apparently unwilling to express their honest opinion, which is shown by the fact that the Yearbook’s indicator “number of viewpoints and opinions” expressed in the media shrunk considerably compared to 2018. And the inclusion of opposing viewpoints in journalistic pieces, an essential element for public debate, declined. The same applies to the number of viewpoints critical towards the government. This demonstrates a serious impediment to public discourse in 2019. On average, only 2.8% of media stories provided opposing viewpoints." (Executive summary, page 3)
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