Media personality Willis Raburu has sparked conversation about the evolving habits of news audiences, highlighting the growing dominance of digital platforms over traditional television.
In a recent statement on X, Raburu questioned when viewers last sat down specifically to watch scheduled news on TV, noting that most now encounter news clips embedded in their daily digital routines.
“Traditional broadcast news was built for a different rhythm of life,” Raburu said. “Today’s audiences live in a world of on-demand everything. They don’t wait for news; news waits for them, embedded into the flow of their lives.”
He acknowledged that some viewers still tune in at fixed times, but emphasised that such audiences are shrinking rapidly, a reality many broadcasters are reluctant to confront.
Raburu argued that while television is not disappearing, it is undergoing a transformation.
The shift is toward personality-driven content, where anchors, commentators, and guests guide audiences across multiple platforms.
This trend underscores the need for “digital convergence,” integrating traditional newsrooms with digital creators who excel in attention capture, platform-native storytelling, and audience engagement.
For years, Raburu observed, mainstream media treated digital creators as competitors, questioning their credibility and journalistic value. Today, he insists, collaboration is the sustainable path forward.
“Creators understand attention and packaging. Newsrooms understand verification, context, ethics, and public interest. So why not collaborate, why not converge, why not grow,” he stated.
His remarks reflect a wider debate in Kenya and globally about the future of broadcast journalism, suggesting that survival in the digital era will depend on the ability of news organisations to adapt to changing consumption patterns.
The convergence of traditional credibility with digital agility could define the next generation of television news, blending verification and context with platform-specific storytelling.
Raburu’s insights offer a timely reminder that the media landscape is no longer defined solely by scheduled broadcasts but by the continuous, interactive flow of information across screens.