The media landscape the world over is changing, and it is doing so at an alarming rate, depending on where one stands. The robots indeed are coming! Or perhaps they are already here.
Statistics indicate that it took about 38 years for radio to reach an audience of 50 million people. Television – radio’s foremost competition for several years, achieved that milestone in 13 years. There is new competition however, one that seems ruthless and relentless.
This new competition has taken the news out of the newspapers, and is rendering the papers and printers obsolete and worthy of a place in museums as historical relics.
Traditional media is losing its grip to this new competition – aptly termed New Media.
It is in this vein that Ghana’s leading telecommunications provider, MTN, with its high regard for technological innovation, has organized a training for media people in the Western Region on how to use social media to power traditional media.
In his opening remarks to the journalists who were present at the event, the Western Regional Manager of MTN Ghana, Mr. Simon Amoh stated that the training is in line with MTN Ghana’s long-standing principle of reaching out to, and, empowering its stakeholders.
Mr. Amoh added that, it is prudent that the media, having been a companion of MTN Ghana on its journey through the years, be introduced to changes occurring in the media landscape, and also creative ways in addressing those changes.
Facilitating the training, Mr. Maximus Ametorgoh, a Digital Marketing Strategist and Social Media Coach, took participants through the changing dynamics of the media terrain.
According to Mr. Ametorgoh, out of Ghana’s population of 27.9 million people, 4.5 million are Facebook users. This, along with other social media platforms, he said, presents traditional media (radio, television and the newspaper) with a fierce competition – one it cannot win.
He stated that, for its survival, it is critical for traditional media to actively adopt and incorporate the effective use of social media.
Mr. Ametorgoh explained that, social media components such as engagement, dialogue and relationship-building, are keys with which traditional media practitioners can unlock the new world of the New Media.
Also present at the media training which took place at the MTN Customer Service Office in Takoradi, were MTN’s Corporate Communications Manager, Ms. Efua Falconor and Mr. Robert Kuzoe, Executive Secretary of the MTN Foundation.
With 57.26% mobile data subscriptions in Ghana, representing more than half the entire data subscriptions in the country, MTN remains Ghana’s leading telecommunications service provider amongst its five competitors and is on track to continue spearheading the provision of quality telecommunication services with products such as its 4G service which is essential in a world that has drastically tilted towards data communication.
~ Godwin Kpade
