There was no need to ask newsroom leaders gathered at the workshop on AI disclosure standard last week in Lagos if they or their media organisations use AI tools. Chances that any would say they don’t was nil given the widespread use of AI tools in Nigerian newsrooms as it is globally.
What they are not doing enough is honestly and clearly telling their audience about how they are using AI which impacts on the credibility of journalism practice in the country.
The session was informed by the need to address the “transparency paradox” which emerged from three years research into AI adoption by in newsrooms by Oluwamayowa Tijani who noted that while journalists believe AI use should be disclosed, only few do so consistently.
While some media houses have AI policies guiding their use, only four are publicly accessible on websites, including that of The Guardian, Pulse, TechCabal and Tribune Newspaper according to our findings through ChatGPT search.
The four policies according to the search results indicate four slightly different approaches: Guardian: disclose AI assistance in content creation/analysis.
Pulse: label AI-generated or AI-assisted content.
TechCabal: allow supplementary AI use and label generative-AI visuals.
Tribune: define permitted uses and explicitly prohibit AI from writing original news or creating deceptive imagery.
At the August 2026 INMA Africa Newsroom & Tech Summit, Punch editor Oyetunji Abioye described the organisation as using AI for research, editing, headline development, SEO and style-guide compliance, while maintaining human editorial responsibility.
Following the recommendationsof the newsroom leaders at the Lagos workshop, it is hoped that more more media organisations would make their AI policies accessible to reasure their audience how they use the various tools.
For those yet to have a policy, there is need to come up with one to guide their staff and prevent abuse which have been noticed in content on various platforms.
There is also a need for media associations and regulatory bodies to collaborate to create policies that address ethical limitations and potential challenges as advocated for by the Managing Editor of Quick News Africa, Monday Ashibogwu.
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