UNIVERSITY OF MALAWI

THE POLYTECHNIC
FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND MEDIA STUDIES
BACHELOR OF ARTS IN JOURNALISM (YEAR 4)
COURSE:
MEDIA RESEARCH METHODS- MRM-4111

PRESENTED TO:
SIR J.JIMU

PRESENTED BY:
CHIPILIRO MVULA (BAJ/16/SS /032)

TITLE:
CONCEPT NOTE

DUE DATE:
15th MARCH 2021
TOPIC: INVESTIGATING THE EXTENT TO WICH THE URBAN POPULATION USE
NEWSPAPER AS A SOURCE OF INFORMATION; THE CASE OF NDIRANDE
TOWNSHIP.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Bush and Gilbert established that newspaper readership is declining. This was a result of a
comparative study that took place in 2002. The study further revealed that internet usage has
increased over newspaper usage. Melvin Mencher (2011) writes that the managing director of
Los Angeles Times. At The Miami Herald hypothesized that a lot of people read news online than
the traditional newspaper. In addition, Mencher (2011) underscored that Traditional and New
media are timeliness. There is a deadline every minute for online journalists and for the wire
service reporter. This means that internet has overtaken the print media in speed and urgency in
as far as dissemination of information is concerned.
Furthermore, AB print (2017) of the Ohio state university highlight that despite the decline in
newspaper readership , newspaper articles serve as the primary source of information about both
historical and current events. Klein (2017) holds that newspaper is more effective at targeting
customers and making a lasting impression. According to Chowdhurry & Halder research that
was done in India in 2016, the results indicate that newspaper carry big appeal for educating and
influencing opinion.
There are alot of studies that have been done in relation to this topic “the use of newspaper as a
source of information" but these studies has been mostly in European and Asian countries. On
the same, these studies were conducted over decade ago. However, there has never been such a
study in Malawi. In response, there is a need of a such study in Malawi that will ascertain the
relevance of newspaper among urban population at moment when digital revolution has given
birth to the prominent new media ( the internet). As result this study will close the information
gap on the same, through its findings and assertions.
JUSTIFICATION
This study is of greater relevance in many ways. The findings of this study will inform
communication strategists on the power newspaper has and it relevance in disseminating
information as compared to other media , for these strategists to make informed and proper
choice of medium in their assignments.
Again, political communication specialists will equally benefit, they will also be able to ascertain
a proper medium to significantly invest in efforts to building political party or candidate's image
The business community will also benefit as they will be made aware of the power of the
newspaper currently thereby helping them make proper choices in terms of the media to
advertise in for greater advertising impact. Furthermore, the study will inform the newspaper
business owners on the relevance of their medium thereby informing the direction of their
income generating as well as profit maximization policies.
The Study will also help the academia to understand the current status of the newspaper thereby
informing their policies as well as news writing paradigms taught in their institutions.
REFERENCES

Mervin Mencher. 2010. News Reporting and Writing.The McGraw-Hill Companies.Inc

Sreeparna Chowdhury & Santoshi Halder. 2016. Educational Dissemination through Newspaper Daily;
Journal of Education and Practice. Vol.7.No 7

AB Print. 2017. Why is print media important? Accessed at www.abprintgroup.com>BLOG

David Klein. 2017. What are the advantages of Print Media over Electronic Media? Accessed at
macromark.com>blog>what-are-the-advantages-of-Print-Media-over-Electronic-Media