Between Utopia and Dystopia: Investigating Journalistic Perceptions of AI Deployment in Community Media Newsrooms in South Africa

Abstract

The appropriation of artificial intelligence (AI) into everyday workplace practices is becoming pervasive. Some of the industries that have seen the improved appropriation of AI include the automotive industry, food chains and other retail businesses. The media industry in developed countries has also been appropriating AI into newsrooms ecologies. This development has left news media workers, especially in developing countries, questioning the viability of their jobs in the foreseeable future as machines take over and disrupt newsmaking and production processes. The unknowns that come with AI adoption have been met with both utopian and dystopian views in African newsrooms, especially in countries that understand less on how to deploy AI affordances. Premised on the technology acceptance model and the concept of technological appropriation and a qualitative methodology that used structured interviews with community media journalists from the Western Cape province of South Africa, this chapter examined journalists' perceptions of AI deployment in the community media space. The findings of the study show that community media journalists hold both utopian and dystopian views on the utility of AI in the community media space. While most journalists perceive AI as enhancing the efficiency and accuracy of the newsmaking process, there is a significant number of journalists who perceive AI as inimical to the legitimacy and credibility of the profession. Furthermore, AI is also seen as a threat to jobs within the journalism profession. These findings resonate with previous studies that have shown that journalists are divided on the perceived utility of AI in newsrooms.

Citation

Makwambeni, B., Matsilele, T. and Bulani, J.G. (2023), "Between Utopia and Dystopia: Investigating Journalistic Perceptions of AI Deployment in Community Media Newsrooms in South Africa", Dralega, C.A. (Ed.) Digitisation, AI and Algorithms in African Journalism and Media Contexts, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 17-32. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80455-135-620231002