Strategies for Internet Technology and Digital Rights Reporting https://zimbabwe.misa.org The commercialisation of newsrooms can influence journalists to focus on stories they know are preferred by their editors and neglect those topics which might not sell. 60% of the respondents in the online survey acknowledged that reporting on internet and technology is a top priority but not the most important. This is because internet, technology and digital rights stories are seen as niche type of reportage that does not attract much readership compared to general news stories. The commercialisation aspect is also a driving factor in western contexts. For instance, the decision by CNN to cut its entire science, technology and environment news staff provoked widespread alarm when it was announced in 2008, but it was duly defended from a profit- making view in managerial accounts stressing ‘efficiency gains’, ‘multi-skilling’, ‘repurposing’, ‘convergence synergies’ and related priorities 49 . In Southern Africa, resource constrained newsrooms raise similar defences of streamlining the business operations, introducing convergence and insisting on repurposing of tools as well as multi-skilling of personnel, thus sacrificing specialist journalism beats such as internet and technology. 49See, Allan, S. (2011). Introduction. Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism, 12(7), 771–777. doi:10.1177/1464884911412688 22