This study examines how journalism programs in eight Global South countries integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into their curricula amid infrastructural and policy challenges. Analyzing syllabi and national AI policies, it finds that AI is taught as a practical tool embedded in digital and data workflows. Ethics is framed as risk management, addressing misinformation, bias, and surveillance. However, instruction operates under significant infrastructure constraints, including limited connectivity and access to tools. Overall, AI education in these contexts is pragmatic and locally grounded, adapting global technological trends to fit material realities, professional norms, and uneven governance systems.
Adjin-TetteyT. D. (2024). From the classroom to the African newsroom: How journalism education can bridge the gap between the classroom and the shrinking newsroom. African Journalism Studies, 45(3), 178–195.
2.
AndersonC. W. (2013). Towards a sociology of computational and algorithmic journalism. New Media & Society, 15(7), 1005–1021.
3.
AsadiS.SultanaT. (2025). Caught in the AI current: J-school educators’ disruption, adaptation, and future readiness in the Global South—Insights from Bangladesh. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776958251407392
4.
BandaF. (2009). Exploring media education as civic praxis in Africa. Comunicar: Revista Científica de Comunicacíon y Educacíon, 16(32), 225–242.
5.
BergerG. (2018). Is there a future for journalism?Journalism Practice, 12(8), 939–953.
6.
BoschT. (2022). Decolonizing digital methods. Communication Theory, 32(2), 298–302.
7.
CarlsonM. (2018). Automating judgment? Algorithmic judgment, news knowledge, and journalistic professionalism. New Media & Society, 20(5), 1755–1772.
8.
CouldryN.MejiasU. A. (2019). The costs of connection: How data is colonizing human life and appropriating it for capitalism. Stanford University Press.
9.
DeuzeM. (2005). What is journalism? Professional identity and ideology of journalists reconsidered. Journalism, 6(4), 442–464.
10.
DiakopoulosN. (2019). Automating the news: How algorithms are rewriting the media. Harvard University Press.
GoldingP. (1977). Capitalism, communication, and class relations. Mass Communication and Society, 12, 43.
15.
GondweG. (2025). Perceptions of AI-driven news among contemporary audiences: A study of trust, engagement, and impact. AI & SOCIETY, 40, 5637–5648.
16.
GondweG.AwamiS. (2025). Bridging the knowledge divide: Journalism education and industry needs in East and Southern Africa. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 80(2), 135–155.
17.
KasomaF. P. (1996). The foundations of African ethics (Afriethics) and the professional practice of journalism: The case for society-centered media morality. Africa Media Review, 10(3), 93–116.
18.
KothariA.CruikshankS. A. (2022). Artificial intelligence and journalism: An agenda for journalism research in Africa. African Journalism Studies, 43(1), 17–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/23743670.2021.1999840
19.
LewisS. C.SandersA. K.CarmodyC. (2019). Libel by algorithm? Automated journalism and the threat of legal liability. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 96(1), 60–81.
20.
MabweazaraH. M. (2014). Zimbabwe’s mainstream press in the “social media age”: Emerging practices, cultures and normative dilemmas. In MabweazaraH. M.MudhaiO. F.WhittakerJ. (Eds.), Online Journalism in Africa (pp. 65–86). Routledge.
MensingD. (2011). Introduction: Journalism education, training, and employment. In FranklinR. A.MensingD. (Eds.), Journalism education, training and employment (Vol. 2, pp. 1–12). Routledge.
23.
MfumbusaB. (2010). Models, local realities. Journalism Education in Countries with Limited Media Freedom, 1, 155.
24.
MilanS.TreréE. (2019). Big data from the South(s): Beyond data universalism. Television & New Media, 20(4), 319-335.
25.
ModyB. (2011). Commentary: Educating journalism students to do comprehensive reporting. Asia Pacific Media Educator, 43, 43-49.
26.
MudavadiK. C. (2025). Navigating the winds of change: Forces shaping journalistic role conception in Kenya [Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN].
27.
MunoriyarwaA.ChiumbuS. (2024). Data journalism and investigative news reporting practices during the pandemic: The case of Zimbabwe and South Africa. In TongJ. (Ed.), Data journalism and the COVID-19 disruption (pp. 50–64). Routledge.
28.
MunoriyarwaA.ChiumbuS.MotsaathebeG. (2023). Artificial intelligence practices in everyday news production: The case of South Africa’s mainstream newsrooms. Journalism Practice, 17(7), 1374–1392.
29.
MunoriyarwaA.de-Lima-SantosM. F. (2025). Generative AI and the future of news: Examining AI’s agency, power, and authority. Journalism Practice, 19(10), 2177–2188.
30.
MuringaT.Adjin-TetteyT. D. (2025). Assessing the responsiveness of journalism curricula to the labor market needs in South Africa: A systematic review. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 80(4), 331–354.
31.
NyabolaN. (2018). Digital democracy, analogue politics: How the internet era is transforming Kenya. Zed Books.
32.
NyamnjohF. B. (2017). Incompleteness and conviviality: A reflection on international research collaboration from an African perspective. In GebreY.OhtaI.MatsudaM. (Eds.), African virtues in the pursuit of conviviality: Exploring local solutions in light of global prescriptions (pp. 339–378). Langaa RPCIG.
33.
RaoS.WassermanH. (2015). A media not for all: A comparative analysis of journalism, democracy, and exclusion in Indian and South African media. Journalism Studies, 16(5), 651–662.
34.
Rodny-GumedeY. (2018). A teaching philosophy of journalism education in the Global South: A South African case study. Journalism, 19(6), 747–761.
35.
SkjerdalT. S. (2012). The three alternative journalism of Africa. International Communication Gazette, 74(7), 636–654.
36.
SkjerdalT. S.NgugiC. M. (2007). Institutional and governmental challenges for journalism education in East Africa: Special research focus: Journalism education in Africa. Ecquid Novi, 28(1_2), 176–190.
