In August, the KAS Media Programme Sub-Saharan Africa organised an Adenauer Media Lecture at the Aga Khan University in Nairobi, Kenya. Prof. Dr Claudia Nothelle from the Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences and former programme director of Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (ARD/rbb) gave a lecture on the topic “Television is dead, long live Television! Multimedia developments in Television.”
According to Prof. Nothelle, the use of artificial intelligence is one of the major developments in television. This can help journalists in their work, "but we should never let artificial intelligence do our work. It's important that we check what is going on ourselves."
Another topic was the development in the use and production of videos. With the increasing popularity of social media such as TikTok, videos are also becoming more and more important, but their content is changing.
Claudia Nothelle therefore emphasised how important it is for journalists to incorporate such developments into their work in order to remain relevant: “Media professionals must learn how to use the new platforms, to customize their work. On the other hand, they must do what they have always done: research, tell stories and try to reach as many people as possible.”
The presentation was followed by an intense question and discussion session in which participants could share their views. In fact, there were many perspectives on the future of classic “linear” television and various suggestions on how the television landscape could develop.
At the end, Dr. Nancy Booker, Dean of the Aga Khan University's Graduate School of Media and Communication, had a special gift for Claudia Nothelle - a Maasai Shuka, a traditional cape of the East African ethnic group of the Maasai.
