https://zimbabwe.misa.org Strategies for Internet Technology and Digital Rights Reporting Assessing journalists’ capacity to report on Internet, Technology and Digital Rights At a time when specialised journalism (including internet, technology and digital rights reportage) are needed the most, the capacity of mainstream media journalists and news outlets to meet the challenge is uncertain. To get a sense of the capacity of mainstream journalists, an online survey with journalists from Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe participating. Lack of specialist reporting skills for internet and technology reporting The first survey question required that respondents self-evaluate their capacity to report on internet and technology issues. Half of the survey respondents self-evaluated as ‘average’ in reporting on internet and technology issues. This self-evaluation is consistent with contexts where most mainstream journalists can be classified as generalists. When 40general reporters are assigned to cover topics such as technology they often lack essential knowledge and specialist reporting skills. In elaborating on why they rated their capacity as ‘average’ respondents gave some of the following responses: 40See, Nguyen, A., & Tran, M. (2019). Science journalism for development in the Global South: A systematic literature review of issues and challenges. Public Understanding of Science, 28(8), 973-990. 11