Artificial Intelligence is no longer a distant concept in journalism; it is daily shaping, reshaping and changing the practice. It is reshaping how news is produced, consumed, and understood from automating routine tasks like data analysis and content generation to enhancing investigative reporting with powerful algorithms.

However, as journalists and newsrooms grapple with both the opportunities and challenges AI presents, the question is not whether AI will impact journalism, but to what extend will it redefine the very essence of storytelling and trust in the media going forward.

Why some are scared that AI would take the job of many media practitioners, others believe that rather than replacing journalists, AI is becoming a powerful ally, streamlining repetitive tasks, enhancing data analysis, and even personalising news delivery.

A testament to this is a statement by one of the private media stations in Nigeria that it has launched the country’s first AI news anchors in five languages.

The statement reads: “TVC News, a satellite digital television platform in Nigeria has made history as the first broadcaster in Nigeria to introduce Artificial Intelligence news anchors.

“The AI anchors will deliver news in English, Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, and Pidgin, reaching audiences across the country in the languages they understand.”
Its Corporate Communications Manager, Edward Akintara, said the new drive is part of efforts to expand TVC’s coverage and embrace new technology.

Also, the company’s CEO, Mrs. Victoria Ajayi, assured that AI news anchors would not replace human broadcasters. She said the AI anchors would be used to showcase the dexterity and expertise of the company’s human talent.

TVC Communications owns several stations including TVC News, TVC Entertainment, Max FM Lagos, Max FM Abuja, Adaba FM Akure, and Yanga FM Lagos, with a combined audience of over 27 million.

According to them, while AI offers unprecedented efficiency and personalisation, it also brings forth challenges related to bias, accountability, and the potential erosion of journalistic integrity.

They stated that as media organisations navigate this new terrain, they must balance innovation with responsibility to ensure that AI serves as a tool for enhancing, not compromising, the core values of journalism.

No doubt, the collaboration between human and technology through AI raises important questions about ethics, bias, and the future role of human journalists in an increasingly automated landscape.​

It is, therefore, not surprising that AI is at the core of the celebration of this year’s World Press Freedom Day. And this is because the integration of Artificial Intelligence into journalism is not just a technological advancement, to some analysts, it is a profound shift in how news is created and consumed.

It is, therefore, not out of place that the theme for this year’s World Press Freedom Day is ‘Reporting in the Brave New World: the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Press Freedom and the Media’.

In a note to support the choice of the theme, the United Nation stated that the rapid growth and use of Artificial Intelligence is changing journalism, the media, and press freedom in big ways.

“While the principles of free, independent, and pluralistic media remain crucial, AI’s impact on information gathering, processing, and dissemination is profound, presenting both innovative opportunities and serious challenges.

“AI can help support freedom of expression by making information easier to access, allowing more people to communicate across the world, and changing how information flows globally.

“At the same time, AI brings new risks. It can be used to spread false or misleading information, increase online hate speech and support new types of censorship.

“Some actors use AI for mass surveillance of journalists and citizens, creating a chilling effect on freedom of expression. Big tech platforms use AI to filter and control what content is seen, making them powerful gatekeepers of information. There are growing worries that AI may make global media too similar, reduce different viewpoints, and push out smaller media outlets.”

The UN also observed that AI can also help media organisations in automating tasks, making them more efficient and helping them keep up with demand.
“But at the same time, the financial health of many media outlets is weakening. Generative AI tools reuse journalistic content without fair payment, taking away income from independent media and giving it to tech platforms and AI companies.

“AI is playing a bigger role in elections, helping with fact-checking and fighting disinformation. It also gives tools to journalists and voters to support informed participation in democracy. But AI also creates risks. It can be used to make fake but realistic content, like deepfakes, which can damage trust in democratic systems. Addressing these challenges requires collaboration among governments, media, and civil society.”

In Nigeria, a number of groups would be marking the day too. One of such activities is the symposium put together by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and Nigerian Guild of Editors.

The topic that will be x-rayed at the event to be held at Radisson Blue Hotel on Saturday, May 3 is “Unchecked injustice: How authorities are weaponising the Cybercrime Act to stifle peaceful dissent and media freedom in Nigeria”.

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) equally hosted a webinar to explore the growing influence of artificial intelligence (AI) on journalism and press freedom in West Africa and beyond.

The webinar convened journalists, technologists, press freedom advocates, academics, lawyers, and civil society actors to examine how AI is shaping the media landscape, both positively and negatively.

Held on April 30, 2025, the webinar was themed AI, Press Freedom and the Future of Journalism. Speakers at the event include Theodora Dame Adjin-Tettey (PhD), Senior Lecturer at Durban University of Technology; Kwaku Krobea Asante, Programme Manager for Independent Journalism at MFWA, Ghana; and Edetaen Ojo, Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda in Nigeria.

The 90-minute session looked at topics such as:
• The opportunities and threats AI poses to journalism practice and media sustainability
• How AI influences what news reaches the public
• The ethical implications of using AI in journalism
• The dangers of deepfakes and disinformation, and their effect on trust in the media
• Surveillance and censorship risks associated with AI
• Policy recommendations to safeguard press freedom in the AI era

Commenting, the Africa Editor of Centre for Collaborative Investigative Journalism (CCIJ), Ajibola Amzat, said that the gatekeeper of journalism used to be editors, be it sub-editors or fact-checking editors or proofreaders.

“Not again! AI such as ChatGPT, Deepseek, Co-Pilot now play the same role as human editors. This collaboration between man and machine has really improved the quality of journalism as a communication tool. AI has also made the production of journalism faster and with less error.”

He, nonetheless, noted that the emergence of AI comes another set of ethical flaws, as AI has been found to reproduce ideologies in news that reinforces social inequality, racism, sexism and colonialism.

“Therefore, the reason for this is simple. The data largely used to power AI technology are mostly collected from the Global North which predisposes audience from the Global South to consuming western ideologies at a faster rate.

“AI also has empowered more people to share false information at a faster rate undermining the role of journalism in many societies.” Amzat, therefore, said news organisations need to invest more in gatekeeping system. He added that newsrooms should train and retrain reporters more frequently to develop verifying skill, invest in fact-checking tools and regularly track influence operations online and social media.

“As funding for media project dwindles, especially for independent media, AI can help the commercial department of news organisations to develop effective tool kits and strategy to enhance and track business performance.”

On if government has any role in the mix, Amzat said: “Government should start by being more transparent and accountable to the citizens. In the atmosphere of openness, misinformation and disinformation do not thrive. Government should promptly provide accurate information and be responsive to media enquiry as a way of fighting misinformation and disinformation. Government should discard the use of propaganda as state craft.”

Also commenting, Deputy Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Ayode Longe, stated that Artificial Intelligence has taken journalism by storm by the sheer amount of information with which it has been trained and the speed with which you can use it to generate the information you need.

“AI can do a lot of things today, including research, curating information, analysing data, writing and editing stories. It goes beyond that: The Il Foglio Newspaper, an Italian daily national paper, built its own AI chatbot with which it wrote whole editions of its newspaper, this is phenomenal.

“But we also need to be careful because the developers of AI also warn us that AI sometimes hallucinates, in which case whatever AI generates, you have to edit. As a result, the Nigerian media has to train its workers on maximising AI in its operations.

Longe also noted that there are several ethical issues arise from AI’s role in media. “We have been told that AI sometimes hallucinates, meaning it is not every information generated by AI that is true, some are made up. We also talk about copyright and plagiarism because AI is trained using the work of others.

“There is also the consideration of compensation for those whose works are being used. And when a journalist depends on AI for his/her work who gets the attribution? Another ethical media issue is that AI can be used to produce deep fakes that are difficult to spot as AI-generated.

“It also means that AI can be trained on false information and because it is basically part of the international network of computers, when promoted, it will regurgitate false narratives. So, in using AI, the media also needs to double check the information it generates using AI.”

On safeguarding against AI-driven misinformation, Longe said it is basically about training on fact-checking. “All journalists should be trained and retrained on fact-checking, especially to identify propaganda, misinformation, disinformation, deep fakes and all other unethical and unprofessional stuff that AI can be used to generate. The journalist also needs to be widely read and discerning.” On government’s role in regulating AI, Longe stated that definitely government has a big role to play in regulating the impact of AI on press freedom.

“The government has to drive the process of AI regulation. AI regulation is not something that should be left to government alone but must be stakeholders driven. The government, the media, the technology companies, the academia, the legal profession and even the consumers all have to come together to formulate policies for regulating AI so that all aspects that will be affected and how they will be affected can be looked into and addressed by the right policy.”

Longe stated AI can be leveraged for media sustainability in several ways, noting that with AI more work can be done by less people and news products can be pushed out not just timely but even instantaneously thereby increasing audience trust in the media.

“But that means that some categories of media workers and reporters will have to go.

“AI can be used to generate news, do fact-checking, proofread and even edit making the working of journalism faster and better. It can also be used to target and reach more audiences faster and better than pre-AI periods.

“With the ability to analyse large amounts of data within a short time, it can make it easier to humanise data in such a way that media audiences are retained which inadvertently means more advertising revenue for the media,” Longe stated.