Do Kenya people trust social media more than news?
According to research by the Media Council of Kenya (MCK), radio remains the preferred medium for many Kenyans. Kenyans spend more time listening to the radio and consuming social media, according to a report titled “State of the Media” released at the end of March.
The report depicts declining television viewership and newspaper readership. Kenyans that watch television are only interested in news, with only 30% of the population relying on overseas programming.
In a sharp increase from last year’s 26%, slightly more than 40% of Kenyans stated they don’t watch television.
However, 58 percent of Kenyans (about 16 million) continue to watch television. Nonetheless, this is a decrease from the 74 percent of respondents polled in 2020. According to the report, 75% of Kenyans no longer read newspapers and instead rely on social media platforms like Twitter to get their daily news.
Radio is the most popular source of information in the country, with more than 74 percent (about 21.4 million) of the population listening to it, far more than any other medium. Radio Citizen (27 percent), Radio Jambo (22 percent), Kameme FM (15 percent), Radio Maisha (13 percent), and KBC Radio are among the most popular radio stations in the country (11 percent ). Citizen TV (78%) is the most popular TV channel in the country, followed by KTN Home (31%), and NTV (12%). (27 percent ).
According to the poll, entertainment accounted for 64% of all content consumed on social media. Another 59 percent said they use social media for news and networking, while 53 percent said they use it for both. Kenyans spend an average of 3 hours and 24 minutes a day on social media, according to the poll, which is higher than the global average of 2 hours and 24 minutes.