Selected journalists and media stakeholders across West Africa converged on Abuja to discuss ways to explore innovations and technology to fortify the journalism profession and practitioners; KEHINDE OSASONA was there.
Researchhas it that journalism innovation can be achieved by integrating various factors of change. Over the time, journalistic innovation had been promoted by the development of a novel methodology that combined existing journalistic resources and the use of qualitative social research methodologies.
Significantly, the combination reportedly provided depth to the journalistic coverage, optimised reporting, editing, design, and publication processes, improved access to more complete and diverse information in real time, and enhanced the capabilities of journalists.
Over the time, it has obviously transformed through differential behaviors, way of thinking about and valuing the profession, re-evaluating and journalistic practices.
But whether or not it has resulted in an improvement in journalistic quality is another thing altogether.
However, at a recent gathering to discuss innovation and technology as it relates to journalism practice, participants had a dose of what experts had to say as regards imbibing innovation in the line of duty.
The conversation
It would be an understatement to say that journalism indeed met technology and innovation at the just concluded West Africa Journalism Innovation Conference (WAJIC 2023) held in Abuja.
While it lasted, the conference which drew practitioners, media giants, and stakeholders had conversations which were centered on journalism and the challenges of innovation in the field, the need to imbibe technology and how to explore the possibilities embedded in the use of AI beyond the prevailing fears of eliminating the job of a journalist.
Not only that, WAJIC was a brain child of the Centre For Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) also provided a platform on how practitioners can use tools to fortify their journalism practice.
Themed “Accountability Journalism: Innovation for a Sustainable Future,” different speakers at the conference stressed the need for journalists to explore innovation and technology without compromising the principles of accuracy, truthfulness, verification, and utmost dedication to public purpose.
Harping on artificial intelligence, experts cited revolutionary transformation and its impact on jobs and democracies across the globe.
Google’s viewpoint
Setting the ball rolling,the Vice President of News at Google, Richard Gingras, who was a keynote speaker during a conversation session with Dapo Olorunyomi, the publisher, Premium Times, said given the task they bear in ensuring accountability, sustainability, and dissemination of information, he enjoined Journalists to embrace the emerging dominance of synthetic media and Artificial intelligence (AI) in their line of duty
Gingras in a 2,750-word speech titled: ‘The Free Press in Our Digital World” opined that despite the current negativity surrounding AI as an enhancer of misinformation, journalists should utilise the positive sides of the tool to improve the value of data gathering and garnering news trends.
“Journalists will be more innovative when they understand that technology, alongside human behavior and expression, will help to understand the varying interests of their audience and how best to serve their information desire.
“Right now, journalists think about AI with fear but can we look at it to expand what we do? Can we use it to reach out to the broad community, with questions like, how do we make sure to satisfy the information hunger of our audience?”
Journalists may be required to do much more by understanding the right linguistics and behavioral patterns of their audience through technology, and building public trust by aligning their stories based on their findings.
“As media technology progressed, from the printing press to radio to television, it became easier and easier for people to consume more and more information,” he said. “However, publishing or broadcasting information, continued to be the privilege of the very few.”
“More significantly, it put a printing press in everyone’s hands. Everyone had the opportunity to share their voice in the public square. And they did. You could reach every person in the world, if they were willing to listen to you.
“Think of it as the principle of free expression coming to life good, bad, or indifferent. It changed how people communicate, how we learn, how we influence each other, how we manipulate each other,” Gingras said.
Gingras added that, “The internet has created a platform for a flood of information in the 21st century. In a world with unfettered free expression, the nature of both public discourse and political engagement changes.
“Yes, the internet can elevate noble speech that appeals to our better angels and allows us to find consensus. But it also enables heinous speech, where anger, outrage, or self-righteousness can fuel a hatred of others. Sadly, it is far easier to stimulate an audience with intensely emotional content than with nuanced, complex analysis.”
Exposing the importance of AI further, Gingras said: “Village has developed and is now testing generative AI tools to enhance newsroom output. AI is used to suggest headlines optimised for search and social audiences.”
Others
Other speakers and panelists also joined in ensuring the robustness of conversation around various topics.
Making a contribution at the conference, the publisher and chief executive officer of CJID, Dapo Olorunyomi, also harped on the need to innovate and address sustainability issues in the media amid revenue challenges.
“Our historical duty today is to reinvent journalism to better serve the purpose of our democracy and the liberty of citizens,” he said.
Journalism, according to him, is troubled in the region because its business model is in crisis, and there is an erosion of trust on the part of the audience.
“Innovation is a pathway to the challenges of renewal we seek, and if we ever make West Africa a space and zone of good governance, tolerance and livable, our journalism must wake up to the test of an effective response to realities of fragile states, the epidemic of corruption, information and climate crises, complexities of technology and the absence of sub-national mechanisms of accountability like professional media at state and local council levels,” Olorunyomi added.
At another session moderated by Williette James from the Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone, it had the Vice Chancellor, Federal University Kashere, Umaru Pate; a professor from the University of Ghana, Audrey Gadzekpo; and Tunde Akanni from the Lagos State University as panellists.
Titled, “Innovative Trends in Journalism Practice- what are the Research Gaps?”, discussants emphasized on the emergence of innovative technologies over the years, saying it has led to the transformation of news formats, from print through to broadcast and digital media.
Pate in his contribution said technology was central to the continuous evolution of media formats in the region and worldwide, noting that as technology changes, many things will become, and many more formats of information dissemination will be coming,” he said.
The VC observed further that since newsrooms seem far ahead of the classrooms, the challenges had made universities in Nigeria to change their curriculum and teaching approaches to enable them to train students who are abreast of developments in the media landscape.
On her part, Mrs. Gadzekpo suggested that media practitioners must think of audiences when conceptualising innovations, stressing the need to consider the audience when talking about research agenda in the media.
When Gadzekpo raised the issue of media organisations not investing in their journalists to learn how to use technology effectively, experts agreed that there is a need to conduct adequate research to show how media organisations can use technology to improve their work, enhance research and encourage innovative ways to adopt technologies across media outlets.
