By Faridat Salifu
Artificial intelligence and media ethics were key discussion points during a session at the 2025 National Sustainability Week.
Aliu Moyosore Akoshile, Executive Director of Climate Africa Media Initiative and Centre (CAMIC) and publisher and editor‑in‑chief of NatureNews, addressed the session on media ethics and AI risks.
Akoshile warned that deepfakes and misinformation pose serious challenges to journalism and public trust.
He highlighted that AI-driven personalisation and filter bubbles could limit audiences’ exposure to diverse perspectives.
Algorithmic bias and fairness issues in AI systems were flagged as potential sources of discrimination and inequality in media reporting.
Akoshile stressed the importance of transparency, accountability, and adherence to professional standards when using AI in journalistic work.
He urged journalists to clearly label AI-generated content and to apply rigorous fact-checking before publication.
Akoshile referenced UNESCO’s 2021 Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, calling for media literacy initiatives to help audiences understand AI.
He emphasised that journalists must report responsibly on both the benefits and risks of AI systems in society.
Following Akoshile, Victoria Barmas, a digital media and AI specialist, led a session on AI for content creation, distribution, and optimisation.
Victoria explained that AI tools can support content creation through writing assistance, fact-checking, summarisation, visual content generation, and video or audio production.
She listed key AI tools for journalists, including ChatGPT, Grammarly, Jasper, Writesonic, ClaimBuster, Full Fact, LLM, SMMRY, QuillBot, DALL•E, MidJourney, Canva AI, Pictory, Descript, Adobe Firefly, ElevenLab, and Lumen5.
Victoria demonstrated how AI can optimise content distribution by automating publishing across social media, websites, and newsletters.
She also explained audience segmentation, targeting, personalised recommendations, and performance monitoring to ensure content reaches the right people.
Victoria highlighted content repurposing, showing how one story can be transformed into multiple formats for different platforms and audiences.
Key tools for distribution she mentioned included Buffer, Hootsuite, Sprinklr, AdCreative.ai, HypeAuditor, Jasper, Copy.ai, Writesonic, Anyword, Rytr, HubSpot AI, Mailchimp, and Brevo.
Victoria discussed AI for content optimisation, covering SEO improvements, headline testing, engagement prediction, trend analysis, and sentiment monitoring.
She emphasised that AI helps journalists tailor content to audience behaviour, increasing visibility, engagement, and impact.
Both speakers underlined the importance of ethical and responsible AI adoption, balancing efficiency with editorial integrity.
The session gave participants practical knowledge of AI tools and strategies, equipping them to create high-quality, optimised, and responsible content in a digital-first media landscape.
