Media correspondents, and top digital media experts have shared their technology predictions in 2024 focusing on social media and emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its impact on journalism.
According to the 2024 digital news prediction report by Reuters’ Nic Newman, “embracing the best of AI while managing its risks will be the underlying narrative of the year 2024.” Newman further predicts “a significant shift towards bundling of digital news and non-news content as large publishers look to lock in existing customers. All access subscriptions will include games, podcasts, magazines, books, and even content from other publishers.”
In other words, Newman predicts that 2024 will see big publishers in the digital media space who will likely offer packages that include not only news but also other types of content. So, when you subscribe to a service, you won’t just get access to news articles; you might also get things like games, podcasts, magazines, books, and content from different publishers all bundled together.
Other media and communication experts, such as Jacob L. Nelson of the University of Utah predicts journalists abandoning social media in 2024 with news audiences eventually following suit. According to Nelson, the idea will be to change the public perceptions of social media platforms so that news audiences no longer see platforms as reliable sources of information about the world.
Though I concur with some of the predictions, I believe that the actual developments within the digital media space or the media environment as a result of AI in 2024 will vary based on geographical location and even the kind of technological advancement levels. Predicting the impact of AI globally or generally when it comes to journalism is challenging because of the diverse practices influenced largely by geographical context and technology levels.
In this article, I share my prediction for Journalism in Africa this year considering the emergence of social media and AI. I concur with Mario García and Professor Cindy Royal of Texas State University, who assert that AI changes everything and it has come to take the center stage.
In 2024, AI would potentially bridge the information accessibility gap for the continent. Thus, information will be readily available and it will solve the struggles of people including journalists who face issues in accessing information beyond their reach. While information accessibility is a positive development, it may lead to the situation where journalists and media writers will rely heavily on AI in writing their news stories.
This prediction is combated by New York University’s Communication and Media Professor J. Siguru Wahutu, who predicts 2024 as the year which journalism in Africa embraces its Africanness. Having worked in Africa’s media space for nearly five years and paid close attention to the current media trends, I predict a strong usage of AI for content creation by journalists and news writers.
The years after 2024 will likely see journalists learning how to use AI to enhance their content creation without becoming overly dependent on it. This strategic integration in future years will help African journalists leverage the advantages of AI while writing and producing news content that is original in a tone audiences can best understand.
In contrast to Jacob L. Nelson’s prediction of journalists abandoning social media, Africa will experience an increase in the use of social media platforms like TikTok in 2024. Particularly, visually engaging platforms like TikTok will take center stage with more journalists turning to TikTok to convey promote their stories through videos to reach wider audiences.
Reuters Institute Digital News report for 2023 highlighted Kenya’s global leadership in TikTok usage, capturing 54% of global activity. Tiktok engagement will gain more prominence in 2024. Media organizations and journalists in the continent will resort to Tiktok to promote their news content. So social media is still going to be a big thing in Africa 2024.
The rise of AI will result in challenges such as increase in misinformation during 2024 elections. Content creators and social media influencers will use AI-generated content to likely spread false information across various social media platforms which will pose a challenge to traditional or local media outlets. Despite these challenges, traditional media outlets will still remain a trusted source for many Africans.
In conclusion, as Africa embraces technological advancements, the year 2024 will witness the struggle between AI, journalism, and social media. While challenges like misinformation will be on its peak, the continent would eventually exploit AI in the years ahead to positively improve journalistic practices.