Nairobi Gossip Club (NGC) has outshone Citizen TV and other leading media outlets in the latest digital rankings.
Citizen TV secured the second spot in the rankings, closely followed by Tuko.co.ke in third while NTV Kenya rounded the top four, according to a survey conducted by Odipo Dev.
NGC was Kenya’s number one news source across Meta’s platforms during the protests.
Odipo Dev, a data Studio based in Nairobi that specializes in providing data-driven insight to different audiences, analyzed metadata from over 28,000 posts across the Facebook and Instagram pages of 31 English-speaking and vernacular news outlets in Kenya.
The data was collected from May 1 to July 31, 2024, coinciding with the Gen Z uprising in Kenya.
Nairobi Gossip Club Outshines Citizen TV
The research reveals that NGC not only commands the highest number of video views and post interactions (combined total for Facebook and Instagram) but does so by a margin that leaves Kenya’s traditional media outlets far behind.
“Given the significance of June 25th to Kenya’s political history, it’s striking to find that the single largest distributor of news on Meta’s platforms on that fateful day was Nairobi Gossip Club,” read the survey in part.
As per the survey, women and Gen Z spend a significant amount of their time online, primarily on TikTok and Instagram.
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“NGC seems to understand this perfectly and in the heat of the June protests, the data shows that the platform became far and away the go-to news source on social media,” it said.
Odipo Dev said that the average news consumer is often ‘found’ by the news, as they are more likely to encounter it while strolling through social media for entertainment, chatting with friends, or shopping.
This means that only outlets or personalities capable of penetrating this alternative activity bubble can effectively reach this consumer with the news.
Why NGC?
According to the research, the unprecedented rise of NGC and other alternative media outlets signals a deeper structural and cultural shift that cannot be attributed solely to their editorial strengths.
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At a structural level, it is noted that the internet has undergone significant changes over the past five years and in today’s internet, algorithms have ultimate editorial power.
Following TikTok’s remarkable success, platforms have largely adopted a “For You” page approach, curating content for users based on personalized algorithms.
“Unlike years past, audiences don’t have to go through the burden of finding and following you to consume your content. The algorithm can propel an outlet you never knew of to the very top of your feeding,” read the survey in part.
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“This singular decision by digital platforms has had significant effects on audiences’ notions of credibility and eroded most advantages that legacy news brands may have had.”
At a cultural level, the survey highlights that these alternative news brands have firmly established themselves.
It also noted that they have become a primary source of news and information, symbolizing the new concept of a national platform.
“While for older generations, the “Mama I made it” moment used to be when you appeared on the primetime news, for a lot of young Kenyans that moment has shifted to being featured on NGC. Or an influencer’s podcast. Or on a viral TikTok video,” the survey stated.
At the same time, the survey revealed that many people were engaging with influencers than news outlets on Instagram during Maandamano.
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