Fortune Tsutsa’s master’s-degree research on the use of social media for newsgathering and reporting by the Potchefstroom Herald exemplifies the power of modern technology in journalism.

Digital news has become an integral part of the South African news landscape, with the majority of South Africans now getting their news from various social media platforms. As a student, Fortune – who recently graduated with his master’s degree in communication from the North-West University (NWU) – was intrigued by this phenomenon and researched the shift from traditional to digital media.

The title of his dissertation was “Use of social media by Potchefstroom Herald for newsgathering and dissemination”.

The Potchefstroom Herald, a local newspaper in North West, publishes in Afrikaans and has recently started including English in its content.

The study investigated how the newspaper uses Facebook and Twitter for newsgathering and reporting.

Fortune’s study was based on two communication sciences theories: the diffusion of innovation theory and the media convergence theory.

He used a qualitative approach for his research, gathering data through observation, content analysis, document analysis and thematic analysis.

His finding was that the Potchefstroom Herald primarily uses Facebook to gather localised content, which has proven to be effective.

According to Fortune, the Potchefstroom Herald’s adoption of Facebook as source has provided an advantage for the newspaper and facilitated interaction with readers, offering fresh ways for readers to interact with the news.

Fortune Tsutsa