In a bid to elevate journalism standards in Africa amid the rapidly evolving global media landscape, Sputnik News International (Russia) in partnership with InfoNile Communications Ltd (Kenya) hosted an insightful virtual Digital Journalism Workshop on June 10, 2025.
The training, titled “Secret Weapons for the Modern Editor: How AI Tools Are Changing the Game,” equipped Prime Africa Channel’s editorial and broadcast teams with cutting-edge digital journalism skills and effective Artificial Intelligence (AI) integration in newsrooms.
Mikhail Konrad, Director of Special Projects, led a masterclass on using AI tools to optimize newsroom workflows. He provided a comprehensive overview of modern tools for text creation, video generation, and image editing, and shared Sputnik's experience.
“One of the key features of our Media Group is our multilingual approach, along with the associated challenges and solutions. While this may not be relevant to all audiences, our colleagues today work in the Pan-African sphere and are familiar with producing and distributing content in multiple languages simultaneously. We hope our AI-powered video processing tools for different languages will be useful to them”.
InfoNile Communications Ltd Founder and Managing Director, Bill Otieno, emphasized the importance of adapting to digital transformation in journalism, Otieno acknowledged the challenges faced by Prime Africa journalists in traditional news gathering and production, noting that outdated methods consume excessive time and resources.
“As an active journalist with 10 years in broadcast journalism, I must acknowledge that times have changed, and so has the media space,” Otieno stated. “The introduction of AI has brought both opportunities and threats to our industry. While some tools revolutionize news production, others can be misused, posing risks to our audiences. This is a challenge we must all address responsibly.”
During the workshop, Prime Africa’s journalists were trained on:
- AI applications in newsrooms for efficient reporting and editing.
- Russian-based digital tools, including Telegram Chatbots and the Sputnik News Wire, for enhanced news dissemination.
- Ethical considerations in AI-driven journalism to prevent misinformation and protect audience trust.