What has journalism got to do with Artificial Intelligence? Lekan Otufodunrin writes on the skills that will define the future of the media profession.
In the heat of the arguments on the appointment of Seun Onigbinde, co-founder of BudgIT as Technical Adviser to the Minister of State for Budget and Planning, a journalist made a sneering remark that got me really worried about how dismissive some journalists are about new skills that matter and will define the future of work for all professionals.
” What is this qualification and competence of Seun that is so rare that only him has that others don’t have in APC or Nigeria sef that all of you are talking about. Becos he does infographics on budget that come to play to the gallery in most cases? Abegi jor,” the fellow wrote.
If only many journalists can produce infographics on budgets like Onigbinde does, among his many other innovative advocacies by him and his team members for open and implemented budgeting, our governments will be more accountable.
Instead of coming to terms with the gravity of the disruption of our industry and learn new skills required to remain relevant now and in the years ahead, not many are learning as fast as we should.
We are so protective of our old media space forgetting that in a new media world, there are no gates or boundaries.
Many ‘professional’ journalists are not taking advantage of available opportunities to be retrained and media managers are also sometimes reluctant to release their staff even for free training.
Yesterday, I spent almost four hours attending an Artificial Intelligence training on the Future of Journalism organized by Orodata Learn Academy www.orodatalearn.com. 52 persons signed up to attend, but less than 20 attended and there was only one journalist from a legacy media organization.
Some other key training on new skill sets like Data Journalism, digital writing, Visualization, Podcast, Coding also usually have few professional journalists in attendance.
While traditional skills of writing, analysis and investigation remain key to Journalism practice, much more are required to cope with the disruption of our business as individuals and organizations.
Functional new media skills utilization, innovative multi-media content production, Fact-Checking, Big-Data analysis, Artificial Intelligence, Algorithm, Analytics, Augmented Reality, Engagements, Networking, new business models and God knows what next will define the future of Journalism.
As the trainer at The Future of Work Classes 1.0 – Journalism, Storytelling and AI I attended on Sunday, Blaise Aboh noted, it will not matter if the Nigeria media do not key into new developments in the sector, the world will simply leave us behind.
“Any journalist or organisation that wants to remain relevant in the media space cannot afford to ignore
new technologies that will either make or mar us as professionals. Journalists need to position themselves to learn and use them effectively. They need to embrace data”
The future of Journalism will still have elements of traditional practice and human efforts, but it will be much more digital, innovative and audience-based.
While those who refuse to flow with the tide will be swept aside, those who are receptive to new concepts and willing to learn have a future to look up in the profession. The new definition of education is learning, unlearning and relearning.
I commend efforts of various individuals and organisations like Taiwo Obe whose The Journalism Clinic is hosting its Ist Media Summit with the theme: Reshaping Nigeria’s media industry for relevance and revenue – in the digital age this week, September 16 & 17.
This morning, I read that the 7th Annual Conference of the Association of Communication Scholars & Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN), 2020 in Abuja will have a special panel session on is “The Media, Artificial Intelligence and Smart Cities”
My final take on this: nobody can get to the future he or she cannot see.