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African Newspaper Websites
1
Title: The Quest for an Operative and Proficient Website for African Newspapers: A
Potential Challenge to One-way International News Flow?
Abstract
Informed by the New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) debate on the
need for a two-way information flow in international relations, this paper posits that an efficient
African online newspaper could provide an alternate slant to African news in a global arena. A
content analysis of the homepages of four African newspaper websites (Al Ahram, Independent
Online, Vanguard, and the Daily Nation) was conducted to determine to what extent they
incorporate the following attributes necessary for an efficient webpage: (a) Speed (b) Structure
(c) Content, (d) Navigation, and (e) Customer focus. Also, these websites were reviewed to
determine how they integrate social media networks, specifically, Twitter and Facebook. Results
show that all four websites met the above five criteria to a reasonable degree and they all employ
Twitter and Facebook as means of encouraging audience participation. Regarding content, Al-
Ahram has the highest number of news stories at 53, of which 58% were local, 15% were
African, and 27% were Non-African. The Daily Nation had a more balanced news distribution,
with a total of 40 news stories of which 45% were local, 30% were African, and 25% were Non-
African. Independent Online had a total of 43 news stories on its homepage; broken down as
58.2% local, 2.3% African, and 39.5% Non-African. Finally, Vanguard had no
international/Non-African news on its homepage. With a total of 22 news stories, 91% were
local, covering Nigeria, and 9% were African. Ways that the websites incorporate social media
networks are discussed in detail.
KEYWORDS: African Newspaper Websites, Facebook, International News Flow, NWICO,
Twitter, Social Media
African Newspaper Websites
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INTRODUCTION
Since the 1980s the quest for a New World Information and Communication Order
(NWICO) has been a dominant issue in so far as international media relations are concerned1.
Among the issues for this debate are equitable balance in global information flow, the right to
determine domestic communication policies, and the need for a two-way information flow that
accurately depicts activities in developing countries (MacBride Report, 1980). The persisting
argument is that the production and exchange of information and knowledge are still a one-way
(North-South), rather than a two-way flow despite many interventions, including the UNESCO-
sponsored research – the MacBride Commission (1980) – which produced the Many Voices, One
World report. Since much has already been written on this topic (see, among others, Gerbner,
Mowlana, & Nordenstreng, 1993; Mowlana, 1993; Golding & Harris, 1997, Vincent,
Nordenstreng, & Traber, 1999, Chaudhary, 2001; Carlsson, 2003; Igbinoba & Emenike, 2011),
the current work draws inference from NWICO debates and is concerned with ways that
developing countries could utilize newspaper websites as a global media tool – thus, promoting a
two-way flow. This active participation in the international news flow can be achieved by
African newspapers, through harnessing their websites to be a source of news for their local
citizens as well as for the global audience.
The above postulation may be construed by many as naïve especially with the evidence
of continuous domination of Western media conglomerates, both offline and online. Such a
counterargument is plausible since only four organizations (Reuters, The Associated Press [AP],
The British Broadcasting Corporation [BBC], and Agence France Presse [AFP]) control the
majority of world news production. Paterson (2006) described this trend as a global wholesale
news system, further arguing that the notion of diversity of information simply because several
sources present news stories online, is an illusion of information diversity. I acknowledge the
genuineness of his argument. Nevertheless, my assertion is that African newspapers or other
developing countries’ online presence through a well-designed website could serve as a conduit
for alternative news and a source for detailed international news stories which often are barely
featured in mainstream media.
1 Although NWICO and its tenets are no longer considered an exigent issue even by UNESCO that instituted it.
However, the reality remains that most of the concerns that compelled the MacBride Commission of 1980 still
persist – some with no change and others with insignificant change.
African Newspaper Websites
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One has to acknowledge, as a matter of reality, that this mission may not be feasible for
all African nations because of political restrictions on press systems (and press freedoms)
especially in countries under authoritarian press systems. However, several African countries are
rising above developmental and authoritarian press systems. Equally, several African countries
have ranked much higher in their press freedom index than some developed countries. For
instance, according to the 2011-2012 Press Freedom Index as compiled by Reporters Without
Borders (http://en.rsf.org/), Namibia ranked 20th in the world, well above the UK (28), USA
(47), France (38), Australia (30), and Japan (22). In addition, nine African countries were among
the top 50 countries with a free press – an increase from seven the previous year (2010-2011).
An online presence is essential to the African press because there is also a nascent
internet penetration on the continent. A recent International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
report (2011-2012) shows, for instance, that
[t]he regional price trends highlight that while ICT prices are falling in all regions of the
world, the greatest price drops occurred in Africa, where fixed broadband prices fell over
55 percent and mobile cellular prices by 25 percent. In developing countries, 25% of
homes have a computer and 20% have internet access, compared to 20% and 13%,
respectively, 3 years ago. (ITU - News Review, May/June, 2011).
But beyond serving Africans in their various countries, the newspaper websites, viewed as a
global medium, could serve local, national, and international audiences. This function was
described by Robertson (1992) as glocalization, and its permutations have been widely applied in
various studies (Kraidy, 1999; Wellman, 2002; Kjeldgaard & Askegaard, 2006).
Aims of the Study
In order for an African newspaper website to be a glocalization tool, it must be designed
to work efficiently. The aim of this paper then is first, to highlight critical traits that are
necessary for both effective and efficient newspaper website functionality. Second, empiricism
in the current study centers on a review of the website home pages of four of the top 10 most
prominent African newspapers to ascertain to what extent they incorporate the attributes of an
effective and efficient webpage. Third, since interactivity is almost an inevitable component of
online newspapers, I will equally ascertain whether, and to what extent, the four African
newspapers engage in active reader practice. Finally, I will examine ways in which these
African Newspaper Websites
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newspapers encourage interactivity/active audience participation through the incorporation of
social media networks especially, in this case, Twitter and Facebook. The results of this study
are intended to highlight both positive practices and areas of improvement. It could also provide
other African newspaper websites with valuable information in their quest for an enhanced and
meaningful voice in the arena of global news flow.
Terms and Definitions
For the purpose of this study, different categories of news (local, African and Non-African) are
defined as follows:
Local – National news about the country in which the newspaper is domiciled.
African – News about (and on) other countries within Africa.
Non-African – News about (and on) the rest of the world, outside Africa.
Newspapers under study
Four top African newspapers – Al-Ahram (Egypt), Independent Online (South Africa),
Vanguard (Nigeria), and The Daily Nation (Kenya) – were selected for this study. The criteria
for their selection are many. First, these four newspapers made the 4International Media and
Newspapers list of Top 50 African Newspapers online. 4International Media and Newspapers
(4IMN) is an Australian international directory and search engine focusing on worldwide
newspapers. According to 4IMN’s About Us page, “the aim of this website is to provide an
approximate popularity ranking of worldwide newspapers based upon the popularity of their
websites” (www.4imn.com). Their categorization is informed by independent web metrics
extracted from three search engines: Google Page rank, Alexa Traffic rank, and Majestic Seo
Referring Domains. In fact, the selected newspapers for this study rank among the top eight
African newspapers by 4IMN standards. The complete list of top 8 African Newspapers and
their countries includes, by rank, Al-Ahram (Egypt), Al Ahram Weekly (Egypt), Independent
Online (South Africa), Mail & Guardian Online (South Africa), Al Wafd (Egypt), Vanguard
(Nigeria), The Times (South Africa), and The Daily Nation (Kenya). A fact sheet on these
newspapers is presented in Table 1. Table 1 shows, among other things, that Al-Ahram is the
oldest of the four newspapers (founded in 1875) while Independent Online is the newest of the
four. To diversify the selection and to represent the four cardinal points of Africa, Al-Ahram (#1,
African Newspaper Websites
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Egypt), Independent Online (#2, South Africa), Vanguard (#6, Nigeria) and The Daily Nation
(#8, Kenya) were selected. In addition, these four are among the African countries that have
demonstrated a significant increase (within the past decade) in the percentage of individuals
using the Internet.
Table 1: Fact Sheet of Top Newspapers in Africa by 4IMN web ranking
_____________________________________________________________________________
Newspaper Country Year Language Web Address
_____________________________________________________________________________
Al-Ahram* Egypt 1875 Arabic2 http://english.ahram.org.eg
Independent Online* S. Africa 1999 English http://www.iol.co.za
Vanguard Nigeria 1984 English http://www.vanguardngr.com/
The Daily Nation Kenya 1960 English http://www.nation.co.ke
______________________________________________________________________________
* These two newspapers made the 4IMN list of the Top 200 Newspapers in the World, with Al-
Ahram in 40th position, while the Independent Online came in at 133rd.
Source: 4International Media and Newspapers (www.4imn.com).
Table 2 presents the percentage of individuals in Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa
who use the Internet. The Table shows, for instance, that only 5.35% of South Africans used the
Internet in 2000. By 2010, this proportion had risen to 18%, a 236% increase over 10 years.
Equivalent numbers for Nigeria were 0.06% in 2000 and 24% by 2010, for an impressive
39,900% Internet usage increase.
Table 2: Percentage of Individuals Using the Internet in the Four Countries
_____________________________________________________________________________
Country % of users in 2000 % of users in 2010 % increase
_____________________________________________________________________________
Egypt 0.64 30.20 4,618%
Kenya 0.34 14.00 4,017%
Nigeria 0.06 24.00 39,900%
South Africa 5.35 18.00 236%
____________________________________________________________________________
Source: ITU, 2012.
2 Al-Ahram newspaper has an English version, which is the one used for this study.
African Newspaper Websites
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The contents of the newspapers were reviewed over three days (July 13 to July 15, 2012).
There is no special rationalization for the specific time chosen; rather, the idea for this study was
spurred by several articles that the researcher read on the subject during that period and from the
class discussions that emanated from her International Communications class.
Brief Description of the Four African Newspapers
Al-Ahram of Egypt
Al-Ahram, Arabic for The Pyramids, is the second oldest Egyptian newspaper founded in
1875. The Egyptian Events, founded in 1828, was the first. Al-Ahram is largely owned by the
Egyptian government, and its online version was launched on November 26, 2010
(www.aram.org.eg ). It is widely circulated and often compared to The London Times and The
New York Times. Kitchen (1950), among the early proponents of this parallel, wrote,
What the London Times is to Englishmen and the New York Times to Americans, al-
Ahram (literally, "The Pyramids") is to the Arabic-reading public from Tripolitania to the
Euphrates. In a part of the world where the majority of the press is still in that flamboyant
stage of partisan, opportunistic journalism which Americans witnessed in the United
States at the turn of the century, al-Ahram has for 75 years demonstrated that there is a
Middle East market for solid, responsible treatment of foreign and domestic affairs (p.
155).
Independent Online (IOL) of South Africa
Independent Online is a member of the South African Digital Media and Marketing
Association (DMMA). DMMA describes itself as “an independent, voluntary, non-profit
association focused on growing and sustaining a vibrant and profitable digital industry within
South Africa” (www.dmma.co.za). Independent Online is one of DMMA’s 88 online publishers
and a division of Independent News & Media South Africa. IOL boasts over 800 Independent
News & Media journalists. It describes its clout as
currently records over 22 million page impressions, with over 1.6 million unique readers
per month – both locally and internationally. Through the titles represented, Independent
Online has access to more than 20, 000 classified advertisements a day and has South
African Newspaper Websites
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Africa’s largest newspaper subscriber base. Specialised products focusing on Business,
Personal Finance, Property, Motoring, Entertainment, Careers, Travel, Mobile,
Technology, Sport and HIV/Aids can be accessed from the main www.iol.co.za website,
which is fully archived and searchable. (Independent Online Website, 2012).
Vanguard of Nigeria
Vanguard, an independent newspaper, was founded by a Nigerian journalist and
columnist Sam Amuka. It began as a weekly paper on June 3, 1984 and transformed into a daily
a little over a month later on July 15, 1984. Vanguard Media Limited lists their values as
grounded in equity and fairness, integrity, people-centeredness, and excellence. It further
describes its vision as being “the Best Media group with the Widest Reach through innovation
backed by excellent service delivery, highly motivated human capital and latest technology.” Its
mission statement is “[t]o impact positively on our Readers/Clients and society by providing
high quality, reliable and affordable media products for promoting knowledge, political stability
and economic prosperity” (Vanguardngr.com).
The Daily Nation of Kenya
The Daily Nation is owned by Nation Media Group (NMG) Limited, an independent
media group founded by Aga Khan in 1959. It is considered the largest independent media
conglomerate in East and Central Africa (www.nation.co.ke). The newspaper debuted on
October 3, 1960 with the promise to “do our utmost to help Kenya and the other East African
territories make the perilous transition to African majority rule and full independence as
peacefully and constructively as possible.” The Daily Nation newspaper boasts about its
autonomy, while in its mission statement it declares itself “independent, subject neither to
factional, commercial, religious or political interests” (www.nation.co.ke).
African Newspaper Websites
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LITERATURE REVIEW
Newspapers migrate online for several reasons. First, the Internet is a relatively cheap
and fast communication tool making the migration possible. Second, large amounts of
information and multimedia can be published almost instantaneously. Finally, in addition to
gaining revenue, newspapers go online in search of readership. New media audiences assume
the role of both consumers and to a certain degree, producers of content. This concept, often
referred to as the active audience practice, creates a paradigm shift whereby creators and
managers of media content approach their responsibilities from an audience/user-centered
perspective. At the onset of online newspapers, the delivery was predominantly a push strategy
– whereby, media producers pushed products to consumers by presenting available content. But
lately, due to the ubiquity and enormous amount of online content, the trend is toward more of a
pull strategy as readers /consumers pull the “needed” information from a plethora of available
material. The challenge, then, becomes one of how a newspaper can design its webpage to
attract and retain readers so that the latter can seek these newspaper websites for future
information pull. Several scholars have proffered answers to this question in various capacities.
Website design, while it may seem artless since anyone can rent a domain space and set
up a webpage, actually requires a tactful strategy to ensure a higher likelihood of revisit. Li
(2002) advised that user-centeredness should be the focus in designing efficient online
newspaper outlets. Li believes that newspapers with the most efficient webpages provide a
higher level of immediate access to news information and smooth news flow. Li (2002)
measured the effectiveness of news retrieval as being proportional to several factors, including
the available option for readers to select news items, the steps involved in accessing a news
story, and the amount of information retrieved within the shortest period of time.
Responding to the question of what constitutes an effective website, Gehrke and Turban
(1999) reviewed 47 papers (both professional and academic) and over 40 websites to determine
factors that contribute to an efficient website. Informed by the results of their study, they
provided determinants for a successful website design that would enhance efficient information
access. Their platform was for an e-commerce scenario, but the common quest for both an e-
commerce site and a newspaper site is to attract and retain visitors. Gehrke and Turban’s
determinants of a successful webpage are: page loading speed, business content, navigation
African Newspaper Websites
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efficiency, security, and marketing/customer focus3. Regarding speed, they strongly
recommended maintenance of a simple, rather than complex, graphic and to limit animation.
While a picture is often worth a thousand words, they suggest using mostly a text-only choice
and in cases where video is inevitable, to use a progressive rendering which allows the
accompanying text to load first before the video. In the same vein, Rosen and Purinton (2004)
added that “web design should not result in information overload. The goal, rather, should be to
give access to the information web surfers’ desire in the most expedient way possible; [also],
web surfers are not a patient group… [i]t is not, therefore, surprising that slow loading sites are a
major frustration and turnoff for web surfers” (p. 793).
Similarly, the content of a webpage to a greater degree contributes to readers’ preference
of one website over others. Gehrke and Turban (1999) suggested that contents of a webpage be
free of grammatical errors and be updated regularly. Online readers often prefer a short and
concise story or clips. To retain readers, they suggest using a concise and straight to the point
style of writing, with simple background colors. Above all, the provision of a functional Search
Box on a website is desirable.
Navigation component is paramount to online newspapers. Lack of a user-friendly
navigation capability, according to Gehrke and Turban (1999), is a turn-off to website visitors
while well-labeled, accurate links will retain readers. They are of the further view that simple
layouts and provision of multiple navigation bars that are highlighted or designed in 3-D format
for easier identification is encouraged. Gehrke and Turban however, discouraged links that open
up new browsers or windows that generate pop-up ads before getting to the information. That is
because online newspaper readers tend to be more active users than passive consumers.
Therefore, an efficient website keeps customers in focus by providing them with conduits for
feedback and for sharing their opinions with other readers. Some of the ways online newspapers
encourage audience participation are through provision of forums for readers to share their
opinions of a news story, inviting users to join their social media networks such as Facebook or
Twitter and providing avenues for readers to suggest topics of interest that the newspaper could
cover.
3 The criteria for effective websites provided in this paper focused on structural design and did not include software.
African Newspaper Websites
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Gehrke and Turban (1999) further suggested that an easy-to-remember domain name
should be used. Preferably, this should be a domain name that is connected to the name of the
newspaper. Moreover, since English is the official language of the World Wide Web (WWW),
an English version of the webpage is strongly encouraged even in situations where the
newspaper is published offline in another language. These criteria and other commonsense
guidelines constitute the main basis for the coding sheets in this current study.
Previous Studies on Websites and Newspaper Websites
Several and varied studies have been conducted on websites. Most of the studies
reviewed the content rather than the structural design of websites. The websites reviewed ranged
from political party websites (Strandberg, 2007), university websites (Padmannavar & Joshi,
2011), anti-smoking websites (Paek, Bae, Hove, & Yu, 2011), pharmaceutical services (Barker,
Talbot, & Aronso, 2012), all the way to online newspapers (Li, 1998; Massey, & Levy, 1999; Li,
2002, Sikanku, 2011; Karlis, Mitchell, & Collins, 2012). Strandberg (2007) for instance
surveyed leaders of political parties in Finland to gauge their opinions on the importance of using
websites, and went on to compare this with the results of a content analysis of their websites. The
results demonstrated, among other things, that websites of parliamentary parties were richer in
content than the websites of the parties outside parliament (p. 419). The Paek, Bae, Hove and
Yu (2011) study also used content analysis to determine the intervention strategies that are most
prominent in anti-smoking websites and found that a majority of the websites reviewed preferred
the health belief model over other models. The Padmannavar and Joshi (2011) study employed a
survey analysis to determine the similarities and differences in both national and international
university websites. It was determined that there is no difference in the information and services
both types of universities offer.
Previous work that reviewed online newspapers relates in some way to the characteristics
buttressed by Gehrke and Tuban (1999). Li (1998) analyzed the contents – home pages, front
pages, and news articles within the front pages – of three U. S. online newspapers: the New York
Times, the Washington Post, and USA Today. Their investigation revealed that U.S. online
newspapers gave more priority to textual information than graphic information; and that larger
graphics were more likely to appear on home pages than other pages. Also, these newspapers
made provisions for audience participation in the production of content. Another study, by
African Newspaper Websites
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Massey and Levy (1999), employing a cross-cultural context, examined the level of interactivity
inherent in Asian English-language online newspapers. They found that while all the online
newspapers reviewed provided users with a wealth of content, they lacked in interactivity.
Equally, Li (2002) conducted a content analysis of five U. S. online newspapers (the Washington
Post, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and the Boston Globe) to determine
various levels of efficiency. Overall, the highest level of efficiency was determined by each
newspaper’s ability to provide immediate access to news information and a smooth news flow.
Finally, Karlis, Mitchell, and Collins (2012) analyzed the content of local, community, and
weekly newspapers and discovered that while free access to archival information was
commended by users of these sites, lack of hyperlinks on some websites was a deterrent for the
websites because of the failure to serve as a one-stop shop for information.
An extensive review yielded very minimal information regarding online African
newspapers. The only literature on online news media in Africa investigated inter-media agenda
setting relationships in Africa’s emerging era of liberalization using Ghanaian online news
sources (Sikanku, 2011). The current study is, therefore, timely. First, it provides an explorative
study that analyzes and compares African online newspapers. Second, it is an exploratory study
that specifically examines the structural design of African newspapers websites.
Research Questions
As earlier noted, African online newspapers, if designed efficiently, could serve as an
alternative to the established flow of information within Africa as well as between Africa and the
rest of the world. Newspaper websites or webpages, while serving as a great conduit for
extension of journalistic endeavors, requires a systematic and deliberate design that will achieve
that purpose. In light of these assumptions, the following research questions guided this study:
RQ1: Having determined the critical traits for an efficient newspaper website homepage, to
what extent do the four selected African newspaper webpages (Al Ahram, Independent
Online, Vanguard, and the Daily Nation) incorporate the following attributes necessary
for an efficient webpage: (a) Speed (b) Structure (c) Content, (d) navigation, and e)
Customer focus, as described by Gehrke and Turban (1999)?
RQ2: How do these four online newspapers incorporate social media networks, specifically
Twitter and Facebook?
African Newspaper Websites
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METHODOLOGY
We analyzed the online contents of four African newspaper websites (Al Ahram,
Independent Online, Vanguard, and the Daily Nation) using five major categories: speed,
structure, content, navigation, and active-user focus. A coding sheet was designed to collect data
on each category, and the unit of analysis was the home page of each of the four newspaper
websites. Two coders analyzed the data and reliability was achieved using the Holsti’s (1969)
agreement formula. The overall inter-coder reliability correlated to a 92%.
The coding procedure observed and recorded several data under each category. The
coding was conducted using a desktop computer with a high speed broadband connection in a
university campus located in the mid-western part of the United States. We previously observed
the four webpages to determine the frequency of their updates and realized that all were updated
on a daily basis (24-hour period). In fact, the Al-Ahram website has a timer that indicates the
time of its last update and the timer changes every 24 hours. In order for the coders to observe
the same data, the coding was performed on the same day.
For the Speed category, using a stop watch, we recorded the amount of time it took to
upload the homepage. We also observed, where applicable, the amount of time it took to upload
a video and selected one news story on the homepage indicating the title of the story and graphic
to ascertain that both coders observed the same data. We also noted whether the video upload
followed a progressive rendering structure, meaning that the accompanying text loads first before
the graphic.
Under structure, we counted the number of sections on the homepage, breaking it further
into small, medium and large sections. We recorded the number of sections that have graphics
and those that are texts. Also, we recorded any crawlers (that is, streaming/moving text on the
screen), animations, advertisements, background color as well as font colors.
In the content category, we coded for a number of observations, including each
newspaper’s coverage of Local (country of origin), African (news about and on other countries
within Africa) and Non-African (news about and on the rest of the world outside Africa). We
listed the number of headings, their titles, as well as grammatical and/or spelling errors.
Under navigation, we indicated provision for a Search Box and observed whether or not
the titles and sections were well-labeled for easier identification. We also looked for multiple
African Newspaper Websites
13
navigation bars for similar information. Finally, we clicked on story links and recorded whether
or not they open in new windows and if there were any pop-up advertisements before getting to
the actual information.
Finally, we analyzed each newspaper’s ability to maintain and encourage active-audience
participation, as well as what social media networks (e.g. Facebook and Twitter) they incorporate
in that effort. We counted the number of social media network icons and links on the home
page, including where they are positioned on the page.
FINDINGS
A total of 21 subcategories (falling under speed, structure, content, navigation, and
customer focus/active-user friendliness) were analyzed to determine the efficacy of four African
newspaper webpages (Al Ahram, Independent Online, Vanguard, and the Daily Nation). The
aim was to determine the extent to which these newspapers incorporate the following attributes
necessary for an efficient webpage: (a) Speed (b) Structure (c) Content, (d) Navigation, and (e)
Customer focus. The key findings, presented under each category, are discussed below.
Speed: All four websites loaded within a few seconds from when the website link was
clicked. The Daily Nation was the fastest, loading in 1.5 seconds. Vanguard and Al-Ahram
loaded at 2.3 seconds while the Independent Online took 5.3 seconds to load. Only Independent
Online had graphic video on its homepage and it took the video about 5.7 seconds and three
different steps/stages to load. Each of the websites had a feature story, or what could be
compared to an offline front page story. Al-Ahram was the fastest in loading the feature story
with a 1.5 seconds speed, followed by both Vanguard and Daily Nation which took 1.8 seconds
each, while Independent Online loaded its feature story in just under 2.8 seconds.
Structure: All four websites had a white background and multiple/varied font sizes and
colors. The font sizes were a mix of large, medium and small sizes. We counted graphics as any
picture, video, logo, or animation; and all four websites had numerous graphics that in some
cases, overshadowed the text sections. Al-Ahram had 53 graphics, Independent Online had 47,
the Daily Nation, 26 and Vanguard had the least graphics at 18.
Content: All four sites had distinct headings that are located at the top of their
homepages. Al-Ahram and Daily Nation had 12 titles, Vanguard had 15, and Independent
African Newspaper Websites
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Online had 22. The common titles among all four are Business, News, and Sports. A complete
listing of these titles is presented in Table 3 to demonstrate the breadth of information presented
on the site. All four websites had animated images for headlines and advertisements. Animations
on Independent Online’s website included a continuous scroll of breaking news headlines for
local, national and international news, a local weather update, a financial report update, and a
pop-up invitation to participate in a survey that would help DMMA to “better understand South
African internet users”. Also, there were several advertisements on the Independent Online
website for products and services including personal advertisements. The other three websites
had advertisements for real estate, local and foreign job offers, educational institutions,
investment opportunities, and mobile telecommunications services.
Table 3: Listing of some of the Homepage Headlines by the Four Newspaper Websites
______________________________________________________________________
Al-Ahram Daily Nation Independent Online Vanguard
______________________________________________________________________
Home News News News
Egypt Business Business Business
World Op/Ed Sport Technology
Business Blogs Travel Politics
Opinion Technology Blogs Sports
Arts & Culture Features Jobs Entertainment
Folk Sports Opinion Editorial;
Sports Transitions South Africa Style
Life/Style Counties Africa Jobs
Heritage Sunday Echo World Viewpoint
Books Jobs Politics Q/A
Multimedia Travel Crime/Courts Advertise with us
___________________________________________________________________________
A news item was calculated as one single news story presented on the home page by
these four websites. They were broken into three categories: Local (national), African, and Non-
African. Al-Ahram has the highest number of news stories at 53, of which 58% were local, 15%
were African, and 27% were Non-African. The Daily Nation had a more balanced news
African Newspaper Websites
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distribution, with a total of 40 news stories of which 45% were local, 30% were African, and
25% were Non-African. Independent Online had a total of 43 news stories on its homepage;
broken down as 58.2% local, 2.3% African, and 39.5% Non-African. Finally, Vanguard had no
international/Non-African news on its homepage. Of Vanguard’s total of 22 news stories, 91%
were local, covering Nigeria, while the remaining 9% were African. Detailed information on this
breakdown of news coverage for all four newspapers is presented in Table 4.
Table 4: News Items on the Homepages of the Four Newspaper Websites
__________________________________________________________________________
Newspaper #News Item Local (%) African (%) Non-African (%)
___________________________________________________________________________ Al-Ahram 52 30 (57.7%) 8 (15.4%) 14 (26.9%)
Daily Nation 40 18 (45.0%) 12 (30.0%) 10 (25.0%)
Independent Online 43 25 (58.2%) 1 (2.3%) 17 (39.5%)
Vanguard 22 20 (90.9%) 2 (9.1%) 0
___________________________________________________________________________
Definitions:
Local – National news about the country in which the newspaper is domiciled.
African – News about (and on) other countries within Africa
Non-African – News about (and on) the rest of the world, outside Africa
Navigation: Navigation analysis included different ways in which the website offers
users a smooth and easier perusal of the site. All four webpages had a Search Box and the title
of each heading was distinctly provided in color or underlined. They also made provisions for
alternate means of accessing the same information. For instance, in addition to the headings
provided on top of the homepage, Al-Ahram also provided similar headlines with titles of
highlighted news stories at the bottom of the page. Independent Online, Daily Nation, and
Vanguard made the same provision but with the extended headline in the middle of the page.
Customer focus (active-user friendliness): The second research question was concerned
with the four website’s active-user practice. Overall, all four websites were in some way
involved in the use of interactive measures to ensure their readers weigh in on the stories and
provide their own opinions as needed. The website with the highest social networking activities
on the homepage was Vanguard. At the top of its homepage was a display of the number of their
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Facebook Friends (315,903 as of July 15, 2012) and the number of their followers on Twitter
(105,000 as of July 13, 2012). In addition, there was a section with a series of tweets labeled
“Your Tweets” with an invitation for readers to join the conversation. Finally, Vanguard entices
its readers to friend them on Facebook by listing the names and pictures of readers’ Facebook
friends on the home page. Similarly, Daily Nation and Independent Online displayed three
social networking icons, Facebook, Twitter and RSS on their homepage. In addition to
displaying the three icons, Al-Ahram had a section labeled “You Said” where readers’
commentaries are displayed and updated.
DISCUSSION/CONSLUSION
As an ambitious venture, this study sets out to review four top African newspaper
websites to determine their level of efficiency. I further propose utilizing the sites as a two-way
international news flow tool. Results demonstrate that the four websites proved to be structurally
efficient in accordance with Gehrke and Turban’s (1999) efficiency traits. While all four
websites show higher structural qualities in terms of loading speed, regular update of
information, graphic and textual contents, tools for navigation, and no pop-up ads, among many,
there is still room for improvement especially in the area of content. A balanced representation
of news stories that covers local and African region is recommended.
This study, while providing valuable data and insight into the structure, content and
interactive components of African newspaper websites, has some limitations that could inform
future research. For instance, the desktop computer used for data gathering is equipped with
high speed internet. Knowing that many visitors to the four websites may not have the same
speed provision, future studies could employ a computer with a lower broadband. Also, each
homepage and the feature stories analyzed for each website can be calibrated to level off the size
of the graphic or text file so as to determine a more accurate result for speed. In the same vein,
future studies may incorporate a survey or interview of online editors to ascertain their target
audience. For instance, do they consider people beyond their countries and continents as part of
their audience?
Finally, for the African newspapers to be conduits of African news stories, the editors
and webmasters need to think globally. Data from this study indicate that some of the reviewed
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websites, while capable of serving a global audience, still focus mostly on local audiences. For
instance, the Independent Online website provided a user-satisfaction survey on its homepage
and specifically requested the participation of South African web users, when it is clearly
capable of reaching a wider international audience.
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