APPROPRIATION OF TIKTOK INTO NEWS PRODUCTION PROCESSES IN SELECTED COMMUNITY RADIO STATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17501/24246778.2025.9104Keywords:
social media, tiktok, news production processes, participatory journalism, community radio stations, South AfricaAbstract
The advent of digital technologies and more particularly social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook and X has spurred up intriguing possibilities for journalists and other media practitioners in the news production process. However, there is a paucity of studies that have examined how these technologies are being appropriated in news production in community media operating in subaltern spaces. In light of this background, this study examines how community radio stations in South Africa are appropriating TikTok in news production. Using MADIBAZ Radio and Nkqubela FM in the city of Gqeberha as case studies, and the concept of technological appropriation and participatory journalism as analytical lenses, this qualitative study, consisting of semi-structured interviews with journalists, and virtual ethnography, sought to understand how the two community radio stations are integrating TikTok in news production. The findings of the study indicate that journalists in the community radio space are integrating TikTok in news production processes. TikTok is mainly used in news dissemination and news production. Tik Tok is being harnesses to involve young audiences in news production by sharing community stories, photos, and videos, and WhatsApp audio voices. Our findings show that while social media platforms like Facebook, X, WhatsApp, and Instagram are mostly used for news gathering, TikTok is most useful for news dissemination because it allows for the interaction between journalists and their audiences. Other than news production processes, the study additionally found that both MADIBAZ Radio and Nkqubela FM also use TikTok to promote their radio stations to increase listenership, particularly among youth audiences.
Downloads
References
Ajiogu, J. E., Nwamini, S., & Ewa-Ibe, B. (2024). Knowledge and Use of Facebook for News Gathering and Reporting among Members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Ebonyi State Chapter. International Journal of Sub-Saharan African Research, 2(4), 293-305.
Ajisafe, I. O., & Dada, D. (2016). Radio broadcasting in the digital age: Adapting to the challenges of the 21st century. Looking ahead, 60.
Anderson, K. E. (2020). Getting acquainted with social networks and apps: it is time to talk about TikTok. Library hi tech news, 37(4), 7-12.
Baillette, P., & Kimble, C. (2008). The concept of appropriation is a heuristic for conceptualising the relationship between technology, people, and organisations. arXiv preprint arXiv:0804.2847.
Boczek, K., & Koppers, L. (2020). What's new about WhatsApp for news? A mixed-method study on news outlets' strategies for using WhatsApp. In Mobile News (pp. 126-144). Routledge.
Bossio, D., & Holton, A. E. (2021). Burning out and turning off: Journalists’ disconnection strategies on social media. Journalism, 22(10), 2475-2492.
Calvo-Gutiérrez, E., & Marín-Lladó, C. (2023). Combatting Fake News: A Global Priority Post COVID-19. Societies, 13(7), 160.
Cheng, Z., & Li, Y. (2024). Like, comment, and share on TikTok: Exploring the effect of sentiment and second-person view on the user engagement with TikTok news videos. Social Science Computer Review, 42(1), 201-223.
Chiumbu, S. H. (2014). ‘The world is our community’: Rethinking community radio in the digital age. Journal of African Media Studies, 6(3), 249-264.
Degen, M., Olgemöller, M., & Zabel, C. (2024). The tortured journalist’s department? Challenges and characteristics of quality journalism on TikTok in Germany. Emerging Media, 2(4), 673-697.
Domingo, D., Quandt, T., Heinonen, A., Paulussen, S., Singer, J. B., & Vujnovic, M. (2008). Participatory journalism practices in the media and beyond: An international comparative study of initiatives in online newspapers. Journalism Practice, 2(3), 326-342. [Online]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/17512780802281065 [ Accessed 03 December 2024].
Dourish, P. (2003). The appropriation of interactive technologies: Some lessons from placeless documents. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), 12, 465-490.
Esa, I. L., Hamzah, M., & Zainodin, W. H. W. (2022). Journalists’ challenges in adapting to ambient journalism that uses Twitter in news reporting. SEARCH Journal of Media and Communication Research (SEARCH), 99.
Fraser, C., & Estrada, S. R. (2001). Community radio handbook (pp. 13-23). Paris: Unesco.
Freimann, C. (2024). Citizen War Journalism on TikTok: A reception study about young adults’ trust in war content on the example of alternative reporting on the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Gilberds, H., & Myers, M. (2012). Radio, ICT convergence, and knowledge brokerage: lessons from sub‐Saharan Africa. IDS Bulletin, 43(5), 76-83.
Gjoni, E. (2017). From passive viewers to content generators: Audience role on TV programs and Online Media. Journalism, 7(2), 63-77.
Hasim, H., & Sherlina, L. (2022). TikTok social media as a means of small and medium business promotion. Journal of World Science, 1(1), 1-14.
Hendrickx, J. (2023). From newspapers to TikTok: social media journalism as the fourth wave of news production, diffusion and consumption. In Blurring Boundaries of Journalism in Digital Media: New Actors, Models and Practices (pp. 229-246). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Hermida, A. (2012). Social journalism: Exploring how social media is shaping journalism. The handbook of global online journalism, 12, 309-328.
Herrman, J. (2019). How TikTok is rewriting the world. The New York Times, 10, 412586765-1586369711.
Hollenbeck, S.M., 2021. Promoting Primary Care Provider Knowledge and Self-Efficacy in Weight Management Counselling (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Arizona).
Hradziushka, A. A., Minchuk, I. I., & Babuk, P. A. (2024, April). The Power of Digital Platforms in Journalism: Strategies and Practices for Adapting Content in TikTok. In 2024 Communication Strategies in Digital Society Seminar (ComSDS) (pp. 65-69). IEEE.
Kalsnes, B., & Larsson, A. O. (2018). Understanding news sharing across social media: Detailing distribution on Facebook and Twitter. Journalism studies, 19(11), 1669-1688.
Kiger, M.E. and Varpio, L., 2020. Thematic analysis of qualitative data: AMEE Guide No. 131. Medical teacher, 42(8), pp.846-854.
Kitsa, M. (2021). Methods of Using Social Networks by Ukrainian Journalists. Bulletin of Lviv Polytechnic National University: Journalism, 1(1), 30-35.
Knight, M., & Cook, C. (2013). Social media for journalists: Principles and practice.
Lan, D. H., & Tung, T. M. (2024). Exploring fake news awareness and trust in the age of social media among university student TikTok users. Cogent Social Sciences, 10(1), 2302216. [Online]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2024.2302216 [Accessed 23 February 2025].
Mare, A. (2013). New media, pirate radio and the creative appropriation of technology in Zimbabwe: Case of Radio Voice of the People. Journal of African Cultural Studies, 25(1), 30-41.
Mabweazara, H. M., & Mare, A. (2017). Researching the fluid and multisited appropriations of digital technologies in African newsrooms. Digital Technology and Journalism: An International Comparative Perspective, 317-345.
Makwambeni, B. (2024). Appropriation of analytics data in public relations practice in South Africa. Communitas, 29, 128-141.
Makwambeni, B., & Makwambeni, P. R. (2024). Appropriation of Artificial Intelligence in Organisational Communication: A Scoping Review. Organisational Communication in Africa: Navigating a Digitalising World, 155-173.
Makwambeni, B., Matsilele, T., & Msimanga, M. J. (2023). Through the lenses of the sociology of news production: An assessment of social media applications and changing newsroom cultures in Lesotho. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 00219096231179661.
Matsilele, T. (2023). Diasporic Media and the Appropriation of Technologies: The Case of Nehanda Radio. New Journalism Ecologies in East and Southern Africa: Innovations, Participatory and Newsmaking Cultures, 251.
Matsilele, T., Makwambeni, B., & Mugari, S. (2023). Social media applications and the changing newsroom cultures in Africa: a case study of Lesotho. In New Journalism Ecologies in East and Southern Africa: Innovations, Participatory and Newsmaking Cultures (pp. 59-76). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Matsilele, T., Makwambeni, B., Nkoala, S., & Bulani, G. J. (2023). Youth audiences and social media integration in community radio stations in South Africa: A case study of Zibonele FM and Bush Radio. In Converged radio, youth and urbanity in Africa: Emerging trends and perspectives (pp. 123-153). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Maulana, M. A., & Sandyawati, N. S. (2023). Using tiktok social media as a marketing promotion media in online business. International Journal of Social Science, 3(4), 507-514. [Online]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.53625/ijss.v3i4.7151 [Accessed 02 December 2024].
Melissa D, Lisa M. Semi-structured interviewing in primary care research: A balance of relationship and rigour. Chinese General Practice. 2019 Aug 15;22(23):2786.
Miller, K. C., & Maddox, J. (2025). On Air and TikTok: How Broadcast Journalists Use the Growing Social Media Site. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 1-15. [Online]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2025.2467398 [Accessed 28 January 2025].
Montag, C., Yang, H., & Elhai, J. D. (2021). On the psychology of TikTok use: A first glimpse from empirical findings. Frontiers in public health, 9, 641673.
Mpofu, S., Matsilele, T., & Moyo, D. (2023). Social media driven journalism in Africa: some theoretical perspectives. In New Journalism Ecologies in East and Southern Africa: Innovations, Participatory and Newsmaking Cultures (pp. 1-14). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Muya, P. (2024). Appropriation of Artificial Intelligence in Broadcast Media Production in Kenya: Opportunities and Concerns. Journal of the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO, 5(1).
Negreira-Rey, M. C., Vázquez-Herrero, J., & López-García, X. (2022). Blurring boundaries between journalists and tiktokers: Journalistic role performance on TikTok. Media and communication, 10(1), 146-156.
Newman, N. (2009). The rise of social media and its impact on mainstream journalism.
Newman, N. (2022). How publishers are learning to create and distribute news on TikTok.
Newman, N., Dutton, W. H., & Blank, G. (2011, April). Social media in the changing ecology of news production and consumption: The case in Britain. In Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), May.
Orlikowski, W. J. (1995). Action and artifact: the structuring of technologies-in-use.
Paulussen, S., & Harder, R. A. (2014). Social media references in newspapers: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as sources in newspaper journalism. Journalism practice, 8(5), 542-551.
Peterson-Salahuddin, C. (2024). News for (me and) you: Exploring the reporting practices of citizen journalists on TikTok. Journalism Studies, 25(9), 1076-1094. [online]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2023.2293829 [Accessed 10 January 2025].
Rodny-Gumede, Y., & Hyde-Clarke, N. (2014). The use of social media as news sources by South African political journalists. Online Journalism in Africa, 104-120.
Suhardi, S., Ichsan, N., Priyandaru, H., & Ihsan, F. I. (2024). Comprehensive Analysis of Ethical Marketing Strategies and Customer Engagement in TikTok Business. Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Engineering Applications (JAIEA), 3(3), 760-765.
Susan, M. (2021). Appropriating new digital technology in community radio broadcasting in Kenya: A case study of Realist FM. African Multidisciplinary Journal of Research, 6(1).
Susan, M. (2021). Appropriating new digital technology in community radio broadcasting in Kenya: A case study of Realist FM. African Multidisciplinary Journal of Research, 6(1).
Vos, T. P., & Thomas, R. J. (2024). “They’re making it more democratic”: The normative construction of participatory journalism. Digital Journalism, 12(6), 869-893. [Online]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2023.2174893 [Accessed 10 February 2025].
Wang, Z. (2020). How audiences affect news production and dissemination in the social media era. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 25(2), 7-12.
Wiley, K., Schwoerer, K., Richardson, M., & Espinosa, M. B. (2023). Engaging stakeholders on TikTok: A multi‐level social media analysis of nonprofit Microblogging. Public Administration, 101(3), 822-842.
Yang, Y., & Stohl, C. (2020). The appropriation of traditional media content in online contexts: A South Korean textbook case. Communication Monographs, 87(1), 92-113. [Online]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2019.1641730
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Radebe Mfundo, Makwambeni Blessing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
