The new media has affected the contemporary practice of journalism and communication studies. Today, there is a paradigm shift in news coverage and flows, with the internet and the smartphone being significant trends in international media and communication. While the new trends have resulted in the globalization of information flows, evidence suggests that the developing nations have immensely been affected by these trends, mainly stemming from western nations. In this paper, I undertake a secondary study from the research paradigm of the interpretivist approach to examine the news trends and issues in international media realities using Kenya as a case study compared to the trends in the global north. I analyze articles from six scholarly publications to frame major themes as trends that include replication of western media values, media imperialism vs. media freedom and citizen journalism, and the disruption of truth and fake news. I then examine these trends using local examples published by news agencies in Kenya and abroad. Findings reveal that these thematic trends are solid in the global South as an influence of the western news trends.

Keywords: global news, cultural imperialism, media imperialism, media freedom, citizen journalism, trends