CAN JOURNALISM ENHANCE DISSEMINATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH? A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF KENYA’S PRINT MEDIA

 CAN JOURNALISM ENHANCE DISSEMINATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH? A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF KENYA’S PRINT MEDIA

 CAN JOURNALISM ENHANCE DISSEMINATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH? A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF KENYA’S PRINT MEDIA

helb portal subsequent application - A Research Paper Prepared for Presentation at the
UNESCO Colloquium on Research and Higher Education Policy
December 1-3, 2004, Paris

By
Winston Jumba Akala, PhD
Catholic University of Eastern Africa
P. O. Box 62157
Nairobi, Kenya
Email: akalajumba@yahoo.com or jumbaz@hotmail.com




The primary goal of journalism and education is to ensure a well-informed citizenry for socio-political democracy and development (Severin and Tankard, 1992; Cobley, 1996; Crotty, 1998).  It is therefore imperative to increase the mutual understanding between educators and journalists regarding the critical role each plays in our society. In Kenya, the most accessible forms of print media by which journalists and educators communicate to the public are the newspapers. Fully-fledged print media in Kenya dates back to 1901 when the East African Standard Newspapers was established. With time, other media houses including the Nation media group, Kenya Times, and The People, among others emerged and grew to become prominent. The newspapers and magazines have helped not only to report news but also to advertise and disseminate different types of information to the public (Njau and Radeny, 1995).  Although journalism and education have a shared goal, questions abound about how the technocrats in both fields can work together to achieve this goal.
Already, a number of works on how journalists disseminate research in Kenya and other African countries exist (Kasoma, 1996; Krabill, 2001; Pratt, Ha, and Pratt, 2002).  However, these works make limited reference to the policies that govern print media decisions to publish research findings, frequency of such publications, and particularly the relationship between the media houses and the academy where most of the research they publish is done. Despite the fact that most journalists often interpret and write about continuing and completed research in the newspapers, their accounts are sometimes dismissed as hearsay or simply unreliable (Pratt, Ha, and Pratt, 2002).  Additionally, few works exist on the role of print media in dissemination of research in Kenya in the last five years.  It is therefore sensible to investigate the role of the print media, particularly the newspapers, not only in breaking news about vital research findings but also unearthing leads to potential research gaps to enhance higher education.

Literature
Limited evidence exists indicating that studies conducted on newspapers in Kenya and elsewhere in Africa examined the ways journalistic print media disseminated higher education research. Additionally, some of the studies emphasized the technical aspects of journalism such as the ways research and news stories were framed, rather than the substance disseminated by them.  Kasoma (1996) Pratt, Ha, and Pratt (2002) and D’Angelo, (2002) are good examples.  In a study on how the newspapers Zambian Daily Mail and the Times of Zambia, covered HIV/AIDS pandemic, Kasoma (1996) found that although sufficient research-based articles were reported, 60% were gathered from outside Zambia.  Only 40% of the stories were domestic.  Kasoma suggested the need for increased involvement of the print media in the dissemination of locally obtained information and research.
Pratt, Ha, and Pratt (2002) investigated the ways four popular Sub-Saharan African magazines framed five major infectious diseases. The study, which involved the analysis of stories published in magazines between 1981 and 1997, revealed that HIV/AIDS news dominated the media coverage in the 1990s. It also revealed that the ways that the popular magazines framed their stories profoundly influenced the readers thinking and practice.  Thus the “reporting format can affect the readers’ perception… For example biographies or personal stories, because of their (communicative) vividness are more relevant to readers than are research or informational articles” (Pratt, Ha, and Pratt 2002, p. 895).
Njau and Radeny (1995) indicate that journalistic print media, particularly newspapers have not been regarded as important sources of research data in Kenya because of high level of illiteracy. They also state that most Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) operating in Kenya doubt the credibility of state-run radio and television. Instead, the NGOs regard independent newspapers as credible sources of information and for policy makers.  Elsewhere research dealt with the history of communications research and how it influences print media representation (Delia, 1987), Communication theory (Craig, 1999), establishment news framing models to enhance journalistic communication (Entman, 1993; D’Angelo, 2002), symbiosis between media and politics of reconciliation (Krabill 2001), politicization of media and/or mediatization of politics (Kepplinger, 2002), and war and media (Biernatzki, 2003).
This study, therefore, not only interrogated the ways journalism can help to disseminate research data but also examined the new challenges facing the academic journals as the forum through which credible research findings are reported. The study highlights the ways editorial traditions of referred journals are being challenged and overtaken by faster means of dissemination, particularly newspapers.  This paper argues further that in addition to reporting directly about continuing research projects, newspapers interpret and disseminate research and scientific work in a wide range of disciplines making it readily accessible to government bureaucrats, technocrats, and ordinary citizens. Normally, such data that exist in literary and academic journals, encyclopaedias and other literature are not accessible to the ordinary citizen and some technocrats since they are regarded as useful only to the academy for educational purposes. The paper posits that in order to achieve their goals of disseminating research findings, journalists require not only the necessary communication skills, most of which they already possess, but also the close collaboration with higher education researchers in understanding and interpreting research data.  This link has neither been explored nor nurtured between academic researchers and journalists.

Theoretical Framework
This paper draws heavily from communication as a theoretical framework, with the premise that poor communication or lack of it often limits both the research process and the dissemination of its findings. But the presence and accessibility to communication through the print media could help to enhance both the existing channels of communication and the areas highlighted by research – economy, health, conflict, politics, and entertainments among others.
After the 1949 publication of The mathematical theory of communication by Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver, communication theory has been open to endless debate. To date, there is no consensus on one theory of communication. However, communication theory is generally understood to mean “highly interdisciplinary, behaviourally-oriented field of research dealing with the constituent process of human communication” (Mortensen and Sereno, 1970, p.ix) or the process of delivering information, ideas, and attitudes from one person or group to another (Cobley, 1996). Nevertheless, it is not the intention in this paper to explicate or harmonize the numerous theories of communication and the disagreements therein. Rather, from the plethora of ideas emerging from the debates, this paper draws an understanding of how communication theory as a contested terrain can help to understand that ways print journalism enhances or fails to enhance dissemination of higher education research.
All the existing theories clarify four distinct aspects of the communication process as: 1) human interaction as a system of behaviour, 2) the decoding and encoding processes, 3) the interaction process, and 4) the context of interaction (Mortensen and Sereno, 1970; Severin and Tankard, 1992). Thus within the social behavioural context described by these four aspects, communication occurs. Communication is achieved once a message or information elicited by a source (a journalist) is transmitted using a medium (newspaper) to the receiver (audience), among whom it signals or enhances actions, which qualify that the message is accurately received. According to Agee, Ault, and Emery (1991), this communication process occurs under various conditions: deliberate preparation and delivery of the message; common experience such as language or other mode of communication between the sender and the receiver; ability of the message to meet the receiver’s personality interests; and the attends to group needs.
Communication theory identifies the concerns of the mass media practitioner as “to have a news story read and understood – that is to achieve exposure and comprehension” (Severin and Tankard, 1992, p.4). However, this is not wholly true when dealing with research articles because they require analysis, evaluation, and application, in addition to reading and comprehending. In fact earlier hierarchical models of communication theory by Lavidge and Steiner (1961), and McGuire (1973) concur that reading and understanding is only the first step towards achieving higher cognitive stages of analysing and evaluating articles, including those that appear in newspapers.  Audience look for a wide range of things in the mass media including news, leisure, entertainment, commercials, and education features, among others. While it is difficult to determine precisely the concerns of the audience, it is up to the journalists to communicate their stories in the most accessible form in order to avoid rendering the audience as mere victims rather than receivers of information (Wurman, 1989).
Therefore, for the purposes of this study, mass communication is understood as “the process of delivering information, ideas, and attitudes to a sizable, diversified audience through the use of media designed for that purpose” (Agee, Ault, and Emery, 1991, p.41). Print media is viewed as a point of intersection of many disciplines that seek to have their knowledge, skills, and attitudes disseminated through a specialized skill – journalism – to expressly influence and modify human practice in ways that enhance survival.  Hence, in the presence of media ethics and professional practice of journalism, it is possible for print media, guided by sound principles of communication, to play a pivotal role in spearheading research.  In this paper, collaborative communication between journalists and higher education researchers is viewed as a way of re-reinvigorating research while at the same time enhancing journalism and affordable access to research findings by the public. The study demonstrates that communication theory is a vast multidisciplinary field whose boundaries are ever evolving to include new strands of thought in the general area of communication. Hence need to go beyond the narrow boundaries of disciplinary expertise in print journalism is quite impelling.


Method
The relevant data for this study were collected from June to August 2003. Data were obtained by analyzing media stories on research as reported in Kenya’s mainstream print media published since the year 2000. The selected daily newspapers were the Nation, The Standard, and the Kenya Times. The content analysis technique was used to collect and analyze the data.  In content analysis, the investigator “examines the communications that have been produced at times and places of his or her own choosing” (Servein and Tankard, 1992).  The researcher, with aid of two research assistants, physically identified research articles published in three major newspapers in Kenya from the year 2000 to July 2004.
Modified coding categories based on those suggested by Pratt, Ha, and Pratt (2002) and Krishnan, Durra and Winkler (1997) were used.  The categories were identified based on a cross-section of print media format of stories:  News stories, commercials, commentaries, editorials, biographies/autobiographies, cover stories, fiction, first person accounts, informational stories, research accounts, interviews and obituaries. Since this study strongly leaned toward one category - research articles - only the related category and format types such as commentaries, editorials, personal accounts and cover stories were emphasized, particularly where they made reference to research articles previously published.  The following criteria was used in selecting and including articles in the sample frame for analysis:
•    Empirical data presented by research and research identification in article.
•    Statistical data provided.
•    Analytic commentaries carrying actual data or quoting directly from research reports.
•    Provided data on higher education or a particular subject having to do with it.
•    Information about the research methods used.
•    Policy statements citing research as basis.
The guidelines suggested by Parsigian (1992) were used to analyse the collected data. These included: Organizing similar items together; letting the coded items suggest the name under which they are coded /categorised; ensuring that the coded (categories) suggest the appropriate ways the body of coded data can be analyses and presented.  This approach also concurs with the bias-controlling exegetical/divinatory research model (Schwandt, 2001).  In exegetical/divinatory model, also known as the “standard” model, the researcher seeks “objective” knowledge of the object by means of a method: An empirical instrument that helps to control bias and prejudice on the side of the interpreter. Thus, in collecting, analysing, and interpreting research articles from the newspapers, the present researcher put into account the major assumptions of positivist research: Giving an objective account of his or her subjective experience with the object of understanding and trying to remain neutral and interest-free; using appropriate method to control bias and prejudice; and that the knowledge the interpreter acquires does not affect his or her way of being or self-understanding. The results are presented using descriptive statistics in frequency tables and a graph. As recommended by Crotty (1998) and Schwandt (2001), interpretive arguments are also used in this presentation.

Results
Results of this study indicate that the newspapers indeed disseminated research, the there was increasing trend in the publication of research articles, articles reported on a wide range of subjects, and journalists dominated in reporting research findings. In accordance with Parigian’s (1992), the subtitles used in this section were established based on the nature of data presented. The subtitles include: Trends of published research articles, subject areas reported in research, and authorship of research articles.

Trends of Published Research Articles
The major newspapers in Kenya - Nation, The Standard, and the Kenya Times - published a total of 5004 editions, 1668 each, from January 2000 to July 2004.  The published research-based articles identified from the newspapers are shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Distribution of Research Articles 2000 to July 2004
Newspaper    Frequency/percentage
Nation    403 (44.0)
The Standard    323 (35.2)
Kenya Times    191 (20.8)
Total    917 (100)

Table 1 indicates that a total of 917 research articles were published between the years 2000 and 2004.  The Nation Newspaper published a majority (44.0%) of the articles as compared to The Standard (35.2), and the Kenya Times (20.8). Further findings reveal that although the nation newspapers published most of the articles, analysis of the trend of publication between the years 2000 and 2004 revealed the changing trends reported in Figure 1
Figure 1 indicates that the number of research articles by the three daily newspapers increased between the year 2000 and 2004. However, newspapers exhibited different trends. The Standard newspaper, which published the lowest proportion of articles (11.1%) in the year 2000, and the highest proportion (26.3%) displayed the most impressive trend in 2003. Despite its massive popularity in Kenya, the Nation newspaper demonstrated a rising trend achieving its peak (24.6%) in 2002 before it began to decline. This trend steadily continued in 2003 and 2004. The Kenya times, publishing the highest proportion of research articles (18.9%) in the year 2000 showed a steady upward trend achieving its peak at 22.5% in 2002 before it began to decline. Figure 1 also shows that he years 2002 and 2003 were the most competitive period in the publication of research articles, and it is during this time that the supremacy of the nation newspapers was challenged.
Subject Areas Reported in Research
The results of this study revealed that the newspaper research articles covered numerous topics. The different categories of research were established based on the topics and themes of the research articles found in the newspapers. The findings are summarized in Table 2.
Table 2: Subject areas of research reported in the newspapers
Areas of Research    Frequency/Percentage
Health (diseases, medicine, hygiene, public health)           209 (22.8)
Politics (elections, history, legislation, diplomacy, civic education)           174 (18.8)
Basic education (Kindergarten, Primary, Secondary)           119 (13.0)
Agriculture (crop and animal husbandry, wildlife, forestry)           99 (10.8)
War and conflicts           96 (10.5)
Leisure and entertainment (fashion, theatre, music, films, beauty)          71 (7.7)
Tertiary and higher education          54 (5.9)
Socio-cultural (family, cultural practices)          49 (5.4)
Economy (growth rates, Budget trends, corruption indexes)          46 (5.1)
Total         917 (100)

Table 2 indicates that the newspapers carried few research articles 54 (5.9%) that directly addressed higher education research.  A majority (22.8%) of the articles published reported on health (diseases, medicine, hygiene, public health) issues. A greater number of the articles reported on HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and tuberculosis. Others dwelt on public health issues. Politics (elections, history, legislation, diplomacy, civic education) also covered a substantial proportion (18.8%) of the articles. Most research in this area dealt civic education, diplomacy, and the electoral processes.
Others included basic education (13.0%), agriculture (crop and animal husbandry, wildlife, forestry) (10.8%), war and conflicts (10.5%), leisure and entertainment (fashion, theatre, music, films, beauty) (7.7), tertiary and higher education (5.9%), socio-cultural (family, cultural practices) (5.4%), and the economy (growth rates, Budget trends, corruption indexes) (5.1%).

Authorship of research articles
The results of this study indicate that the 917 research articles identified wee authored by journalists, non-journalist professionals, and the various interest groups. This reveals the collaboration among those involved in producing the print media stories. Table 3 shows the trend of these publications per author category.

Table 3: Distribution of Articles by Author Categories
Author category    Frequency/Year
2000       2001      2002        2003        2004    Total
Journalists
        77         79        119          127          143
 (14.1)     (14.5)    (21.8)      (23.3)      (26.3)    545
(100)
Individual academic and professionals researchers         43         52          57            86           74
   (13.8)   (16.7)     (18.2)      (27.6)     (23.7)    312
(100)
Others (interest groups, lay public, analysts)          9         13           11           17           10
    (15.0)   (21.7)     (18.3)     (28.3)      (16.7)    60
(100)
Legend: Percentages in parentheses

Table 3 shows that most, 545 (59.4%), of the research-based articles were reported by professional journalists. Individual researchers reported 312 (34.0%) of the articles while the rest, 60 (6.5%)were reported by others (interest groups, lay public, analysts). It seems that research by interest groups was often reported by journalists and/or individuals associated with these groups.  In fact further analysis revealed that 51.2% of the articles reported by journalists were original research carried out by higher education personnel from universities and associated institutions and research foundations.
Generally, Table 3 also shows that there was steady increase in the number of published research-based articles from the year 2000 to the year 2004, perhaps reflecting editorial policy change in the in print journalism in Kenya. Furthermore, Table 3 reveals a steady increase in the publication of research findings by individual academic and professional researchers in the newspapers from 13.8% in the year 2000 to 23.7% in 2004. This trend suggests the growth of interdisciplinary professionalism in print journalism in Kenya.

Discussion, trends, and policy implications for print media and higher education
The results of this study a substantial proportion of the research studies reported were conducted by higher education institutions or personnel, particularly by university professors and advanced graduate students. Table 3 three shows that a majority of the studies on the education sector overwhelmingly dealt with issues in basic and secondary education. This explains the relative dearth of research on higher education in Kenya, and therefore a weak base for policy formulation (Pratt, Ha, and Pratt, 2002).
Some of the issues that never featured in the newspapers included academic programs planning, employee welfare, and productivity of both academic and non-academic staff at institutions of higher education. For instance, although the newspapers ran numerous opinion polls on political topics and on issues of corruption, trade disputes, and politics, there was no single opinion poll on public views about higher education.  Thus, journalists deal with nebulous audiences whose needs they must, however, meet.  “The responsibility of editors is to strike the balance among the functions of informing, instructing, and entertaining.  Different ones do this different ways to suit what they believe to be the desires of the particular audiences” (Agee, Ault, and Emery, 1991).
Apparently, the irrevocability of the editors’ judgement in matters of publication renders it difficult to consider interest areas of the diverse audiences, particularly those interested in specialized research. However, as revealed in this study, the publication of articles written by non-journalist authors specialized in other fields is a trend that not only acknowledges the interdisciplinarity of journalism but also offers opportunity for dissemination of authoritative research work.
The Kenya government hardly responded directly, vide policy change and implementation, to research studies conducted in institutions of higher education. As a result, most research in higher education has largely remained a domain for scholarly discourse and academic articulation. Even at institutional level, limited effort has been made to utilize research on higher education to moot new ways of educating and conducting research. As Severin and Tankard (1992), and Agee, Ault, and Emery (1991) put it, effective communication using the mediums that elicit the greatest and most accurate impact is critical in disseminating information, including research findings.
It is thus not a wonder that policy in higher education, as in other levels of education in Kenya has been driven, to some extent, by media advocacy part of which is research-based.  In Kenya for instance, two Education Commission Reports, the 1988 Kamunge Education Report and the 1994 Mungai Education Report brought positive reforms in education in terms of access and funding (Republic of Kenya 1988; Akala, 2001, 2002). Both commissions were established following vigorous media advocacy.  One of the celebrated reasons of this success was the fact that the Commissions carefully weaved the local interest with the global demands made by IMF/World Bank to ensure that the resulting recommendations and policy comfortably located Kenya in the global map of higher education (Sawai, 2002). The commissions’ findings and the resultant policy changes on one hand and the suggestions made by other IMF/World Bank-related research were greatly publicized and amplified in the print media (Akala, 2003). The unsaid part of this success story is the impact the print media (newspapers) had on educators and the general public – the providers and consumers of higher education. Nonetheless, Njau and Radeny (1995) observe that NGOs operating in Kenya regarded independent print media as credible sources of information for policy makers.
Generally, the results of this study underscore the importance of journalism, particularly print media, which is most accessible to Kenyans has, in helping to agitate and inform the government on issues of critical importance. Further, the results also reveal new trends that describe the intricate ways print journalism works to disseminate research. One of the new trends in print journalism in Kenya is the emergence of critical debate in newspapers that stimulates and strengthens research and research priorities.  For instance during the analysis of the newspaper articles, it became clear that whenever research on crucial topics such as participation of women in higher management (Bendera, et. al., 1998; Akala, 2000), and the management of HIV/AIDS were reported, they triggered analytic debates in subsequent issues of the same paper and the other newspapers. In most cases, journalists, subject professionals, and the lay public participated by publishing analytic pieces that questioned or supported the research findings reported in these areas. However, of greatest interesting to this researcher was the colossal number of research gaps and priorities that emerged from the media discourses that ensued. The growing quality of debate and research in the print media has tended to increase the credibility of these publications even within academic realms where certain newspapers are now accepted as credible sources. This is a major but deserving policy shift in the conduct of research and publication of academic research.
Another new trend in print journalism is the steadily growing position of the daily newspapers as the central market place for research ideas.  Although the credibility of journals remains invincible within the academic circles, evidence from the journalistic print media in Kenya suggests that newspapers take precedence in disseminating research findings.  For instance, while identifying the numerous research gaps, conducting, and reporting research findings within the realms of the academy – unfamiliar to most ordinary Kenyans – is fathomable, it is amazing how this is simplified and undertaken in a short time through the journalistic print media, making the researchers’ work less laborious. Referred research journal articles take long in the editorial bureaucracies such that they are often overtaken by other research by the time they are published and disseminated. Thus the new trend of research revealed in the print media strengthens it as the “ideas market-place” where producers (researchers) and consumers (education and public policy-makers, professionals, lay public, and interest groups) exchange ideas on how research can better address their crucial needs at overwhelming speed.  This trend clearly carries policy implications not only about the editorial pace in academic journals but also the entire organizational structure of agencies and professional groups that publish higher education research.
The analysis of research-based articles in Kenyan newspapers also reveals a new trend where a steadily increasing number of researchers publish their work as journalistic pieces for quick dissemination and consumption by the wider public. It seems that this is a strategy to ensure that the findings are not only used timely, but also that their worth is not overtaken by new research (Agee, Ault, and Emery 1991; Kasoma 1996). The publication of individual researchers own research as revealed in Table 3 is a major shift in the policy of professional journalism.  However, it not only adds to the newspapers’ credibility but also it works out the new trend towards enjoining research professionals from higher education to journalism in ways that mutually benefit them.  Further, it creates great advantages for the public through immediate access to new research and involvement in its discourses.  Needless to say government bureaucrats and technocrats studiously watch journalistic print media research reports and debates to understand the new trends and concerns of the society (Njau and Radeny 1995). For these reasons the bureaucrats and technocrats form task forces that originate numerous decisions and policy recommendations built on analysis of authentic research pieces reported in newspapers, alongside other sources.
Another growing trend in Kenya’s print journalism is the multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary reporting strategy. Thus between the years 2000 and 2004 the newspapers maintained a largely multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach in publishing research. This is less common with referred journals where specialized or very closely related fields appear in one issue. As indicated in Table 2, research in a wide range of topics, including health, politics, education, agriculture, conflict, and economy, among others were reported.
Table 3 indicated that professional journalists still dominated in the reporting of empirical research. But the substantial inclusion of reports written by non-journalist professionals and organizations revealed the divide existing between journalism and other researchers.  In essence, that fact that 51.2% of the journalists’ reports were research studies conducted by academics from tertiary institutions explains the inescapable relationship between journalists and researchers.  The study also revealed that print media appreciated contributions from professional researchers and professional organizations, among them higher education researchers.  Equipping higher education researchers with journalistic skills can strengthen this trend. This can be achieved through further education and training, with the creation and implementation of policies to guide collaboration among different professionals and disciplines. The trained “researcher-journalists” would then form part of the editorial staff at media houses, thereby adding credibility to research articles that feature in newspapers.

 Limitations
Selecting the newspapers to analyse might have involved some biases based on the researchers’ preference to include the long history and experience of the media houses in the media industry, as selection criteria. The main limitation here was that relatively new but credible newspapers and magazines might have been excluded by these criteria. However, the researcher felt that since most print media stories tended to be similar, exclusion of relatively recent newspapers did not diminish the credibility of this study.
This study assumed that due to their readership (approximately six million), the three newspapers:  Nation, The standard, and Kenya times were respectively popular in Kenya, and that the readers actually read the research articles published in them.  The ways these consumers, particularly the technocrats reacted to the stories and used them as a basis to plan and implement policy, though implied, could not be discerned by this study.  It was assumed though, that the media framing and coverage of research did influence policy makers’ thinking and work in different ways.
This study revealed that, over the years the number of published research-based articles in the three newspapers increased.  No attempt was made to find out the causes of this trend as this study concentrated on analysis of the newspapers articles.  It is thus necessary to investigate the ways readers and policy makers in the media houses responded to initial research-based articles, and whether this led to policy changes that resulted in increased publication of these articles.

Conclusion
The findings of this study leave no doubt that journalism enhances dissemination of higher education research.  However, the discussion in this paper did not, by any means, seek to extol the credibility of newspapers beyond referred journals. Rather, it has clarified that the editorial traditions of referred journals and the commensurate bureaucratic delays are among the challenges that these journals face in the wake of the fast and popular print journalism. The results presented in this paper indicate that print journalism forms the complex, but often neglected, channel through which education policy-makers, educators, consumers, and other non-partisan enthusiasts of higher education can participate and/or be sensitized about the innovations and progress in higher education. Accordingly, there is need to strengthen the role of the newspapers in disseminating research not only from and about higher education but also many other fields and levels of education. Only then will we make research data readily available to all for analysis and use in education and public policy.
Research findings presented herein show that in the present global context of rapid change, higher education research systems, institutional structures, and policy frameworks can appropriately and necessarily maintain currency, affordability, sustainability and speed by collaborating with print journalism and other forms of mass media. Policy changes to enhance this strategy are thus essential, yet overdue.  In particular, Kenyan universities with scarce financial resources, limited human resources and institutional capacity and an ever-growing demand for higher education can take advantage of the affordable and fast-growing print journalism to make a profound impact on Kenya’s development in the coming days.  Given the high speed with which information flows back and forth through newspapers, and their electronic versions on Internet, this strategy is critical now than ever.
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Progress, constraints, and promising initiatives. World Bank Discussion Papers, No. 244. Washington, DC:  The World Bank.

Wurman, R. S. (1989).  Information anxiety.  New York:  Doubleday.
Selected Newspaper articles

Akala, W. J. (March 10, 2002). HELB law is unconstitutional. Daily nation. http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/10032002/Letters/Letters1.html

Akala, W. J. (December 10, 2001). Why University admissions body is unnecessary. Daily Nation

Akala, W. J. (July 17, 2000). A long history of pupils' discontent and strikes. Daily nation               http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/17072000/Features/Features4.html

Akala, W. J. (January 15, 2000). More women should be involved in higher education management.
Kenya Times.

Sawai, K. (March 15, 2002). Why IMF and World Bank Fail in Kenya. Daily Nation. Retrieved March 16, 2002 from http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/15032002/Comment/Comment20.html



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