Mapping the AI narrative in Kenya and South Africa's media
Key takeaways
- From data colonialism to deepfakes, AI is reshaping Africa.
- Siloed and crisis-driven: AI is framed as business, security or tech, rarely as a societal or geopolitical story Image: Thomas Imo/photothek/picture alliance.
- AI articles tend to be siloed and reactive, framed as business, security or technology stories.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
From data colonialism to deepfakes, AI is reshaping Africa. A new study shows where Kenyan and South African coverage falls short, and offers practical steps to deepen and improve reporting.
Siloed and crisis-driven: AI is framed as business, security or tech, rarely as a societal or geopolitical story Image: Thomas Imo/photothek/picture alliance. A new study by the Centre for Information Integrity in Africa (CINIA) at Stellenbosch University, supported by DW Akademie, takes a critical look at how artificial intelligence (AI) is covered in Kenyan and South African media. The research, titled "AI in the Media: Kenya and South Africa", analyses 57 articles and draws on two rounds of journalist interviews over a five-year period (2021-2026). The research finds that AI remains largely an underexplored, and often misunderstood, topic for journalism in South Africa and Kenya. Here are the key takeaways.
AI articles tend to be siloed and reactive, framed as business, security or technology stories. Seldom is AI presented in terms of its multidimensional, layered impact on society. Furthermore, the geopolitical aspect of AI rarely gets interrogated in mainstream media. Coverage is often triggered by crises or scandals rather than proactive public-interest journalism.