• AI forces newsrooms to balance automation with credibility and trust

• Agentic AI boosts efficiency but risks scaling disinformation content

• Media urged to focus on originality, video, and transparency

Artificial intelligence is forcing newsrooms to rethink their operations. Newsrooms must find ways to use new tools without undermining journalistic credibility or public trust.

“The decline of mass traffic from social networks and the rise of AI agents create a double challenge for African media: automate to survive and humanize to remain credible,” said Hervé Tiwa, a PhD in information and communication sciences and a specialist in digital media transformation.

The transition is proving difficult for many African media outlets. Adapting journalism to new technologies comes with obstacles. The stakes are high, Tiwa said, because “AI no longer simply responds; it acts.”

The Emergence of “Agentic” AI

The report Journalism, Media and Technology Trends and Predictions 2026, by Nic Newman and published by the Reuters Institute, highlights the growing power of agentic systems capable of managing complex operations and executing sophisticated tasks.

These systems can automate back-end functions by streamlining repetitive tasks such as transcription, translation into local languages and video formatting, the report says. They also risk amplifying false content at scale, described in the report as “disinformation slop.”

The trend is significant enough that Merriam-Webster named “slop” its word of the year for 2025. The term refers to low-quality digital content produced at scale by artificial intelligence.

Around 1,000 AI-generated disinformation websites were identified in 2024, intensifying competition for online audiences, according to the study The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Press, published on xerfi.com.

News organizations risk irrelevance unless they adapt. The challenge is to make AI an ally rather than a threat.

Three Priorities for African Media

Based on the Newman report and research by the Cameroonian group Med.IA Lab, the analysis identifies three priorities for media outlets across the continent.

Originality is the first priority. AI-generated content often lacks distinctiveness. Although quality depends on prompts, repeated wording tends to standardize language. Media outlets are encouraged to invest more in investigative reporting that delivers specificity and human depth, and to focus on field reporting with emotional resonance.

In its analysis of Reuters's report, Med.IA Lab indicates that “76% of publishers now ask their journalists to act as content creators. Audiences, especially Generation Z, respond more to individual voices than to institutional brands.”

Video is the second priority. Newsrooms without a strong video presence risk falling behind by 2026. This requires sustained activity on platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, with regular publication of short-form content including Shorts and Reels. Video captures attention more effectively and remains accessible to audiences with low literacy.

Transparency is the third priority. Journalists are encouraged to disclose, for example at the end of articles, when AI tools are used in production. This supports editorial accountability and helps maintain reader trust.

More than ever, journalists need proper training to fulfil their role amid rapid technological change.

Ubrick F. Quenum