Author: Otieng’ Otieng’

As a young female journalist today, the digital world isn’t just a tool for me, it’s where much of my work happens. I rely on online platforms to uncover stories, amplify voices that often go unheard, and connect with people across the globe. But during a recent digital safety training organized by the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) in Kenya, I realized that this openness comes with risks.

In the last 7 months, 40 female journalists across the country have undergone a rigorous fellowship focussed on understanding Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other digital tools.

At the centre of the training sessions was the rise of Technology Facilitated Gender Based Violence (TFGBV), painting a sad picture of how women remain the key target and largest victims.

“Although women journalists in Kenya are increasingly embracing digital tools, they still experience cyber bullying, harassment, suffer burnout from the demands of long hours of digital journalism… and are under-represented in decision making and digital transformation initiatives,” the report dubbed Women journalists and Tech reads in part.

Speaking at the launch on March 7 2025, IAWRT Kenya Chairperson Josephine Karani highlighted the organisation’s broader work on mentorship and skills development, saying IAWRT has pioneered mentorship programmes and works with institutions training journalists, a foundation on which expanded training (including on AI and digital tools) is built.

Drawing on findings and case documentation compiled by IAWRT Kenya in this and previous TFGBV reporting initiatives, trainers walked participants through real scenarios involving online impersonation, non-consensual image manipulation, and digital smear campaigns targeting women in media.

Among examples given include the viral use of Grok on X where users undressed women and posted these photos online.

Another example was how online users shared contacts of female journalist Yvonne Owkwara during the Gen Z protest frenzy, infringing her privacy while violating data law.

The chapter has previously highlighted patterns of online abuse against female journalists in Kenya, noting how political reporting and gender rights coverage often trigger coordinated harassment, doxxing and reputational attacks.

The trainers stretching from Google, KictaNet zeroed in on how innocently sharing personal information like where one lives, their phone number, child’s school or even story one is covering can make one a target.

In one such spirited session however, the  trainers revealed how journalists can protect themselves online by limiting the amount of personal information shared.

To curb this, the journalists were taught on how to recognise deepfakes, fake profiles and how to safely store abusive messages that can be used as evidence in a court of law.

By centering AI literacy as a safety tool, the training reframed technology from a source of vulnerability to a line of defence.

Participants learned how to verify synthetic content, preserve digital evidence, monitor bot activity and reduce their digital footprint.

These practical skills lower risk while strengthening investigative capacity.

The media landscape has continued to evolve with the digital shift and the emergence of Artificial Intelligence, calling for new creative ways to captivate and retain consumers.

The industry is experiencing major shifts, with thousands being laid off due to the dwindling profits, with companies unable to retain their workers.

While this shift is taking place, a lot of questions continue to be asked, by those in the industry, those pursuing journalism courses, and others looking out for those in the industry.

The reality is staring at us that things have changed. It’s no longer business as usual, and the sooner people accept, then moving on and looking at the future with hope will help journalism sail through the tough times.

In the last seven months, female journalists have benefitted from a training on AI and journalism conducted by the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT-Kenya) with other partners.

As I sat through the sessions, one thing was clear that we must embrace AI even as media companies grapple with the extent to which they can use AI.

The most important thing is for journalists to purposely learn, unlearn and relearn, to navigate through the industry.

Many media houses globally are now re-looking at how they can tell their stories, how they can reach various audiences, and AI is helping them define the direction they need to take. Media houses are now leveraging AI for audience engagement and analytics. This helps them to understand, where the consumers of their content are, what time they engage with the content, how long they engage with that content among other analytics.

However, media houses cannot throw caution to the wind. They need to put safeguards that will protect their credibility and trust.

As much as the how of telling that story has changed, trust will help sell content and therefore the need to have the safeguards in place, especially at a time when AI is being used to propagate misinformation and disinformation.

A session on AI Ethics, policy, and responsible use in Journalism in Kenya emphasized why the media must remain alert following the emerging risks such as deep fakes, algorithmic bias, and disrupted information ecosystems caused by instances of AI hallucinations and so much more.

Facilitating the session, Dr.Grace GIthaiga underscored the need for media houses to remain accountable for what they put out to the public, even with AI-powered tools in place to verify information and that ethical standards must be adhered to while producing content.

Seven months at IAWRT Kenya taught us how AI is reshaping journalism today.

AI is no longer a distant concept for journalists, it’s a present reality transforming how we work.

From automated transcription and data analysis to interactive storytelling, AI tools can speed up research, detect misinformation, and reveal insights hidden in complex datasets.

They promise efficiency, but their use requires careful judgment and ethical consideration.

One of the most important lessons we’ve learned is ethical responsibility. Algorithms can carry biases, and AI generated content can mislead if left unchecked.

“A journalist’s responsibility is to establish what the content truly shows by asking who created it , when, where and why,” digital trainer Nelly Moraa cautioned trainees.

She added that verification in today’s age is a combination of digital tools, strong editorial judgement and multiple credible sources.

 Every AI output must be treated like a source verified, contextualized, and balanced with human oversight. Speed without ethics is not progress.

Beyond tools and ethics, the program encouraged creative storytelling. AI can help journalists visualize data, explore immersive formats, and engage audiences in new ways.

 But creativity remains inherently human, emotion, nuance, and cultural context cannot be fully automated. AI is a collaborator, not a replacement.

Seven months of training have also reshaped our mindset. The conversation has shifted from “if AI will impact journalism” to “how we can guide AI to serve truth and public interest.”

AI is powerful, but the human touch, integrity, judgment, and curiosity remains indispensable.

In the end, this journey with IAWRT Kenya highlighted that AI is about people, values, and decisions.

It’s not just about adopting new tools, it’s about shaping a responsible, ethical, and innovative media landscape.

As Kenya went to the polls during the 2022 General Election, journalists were on the front line of informing the public in a highly charged political environment. Alongside the physical risks of election coverage, another threat emerged quietly but persistently: online harassment, misinformation, and coordinated digital attacks targeting journalists, particularly women.

According to the Media Council of Kenya (MCK), at least 43 journalists experienced harassment during the election period. While some incidents occurred in the field, a significant number played out on social media platforms, where journalists covering campaigns, voting, and results were accused of bias, misinformation, and political alignment.

This story applies digital verification skills acquired through training by the International Association of Women in Radio and Television – Kenya ( IAWRT) to examine whether these online attacks reflected genuine public opinion or coordinated efforts to undermine journalism during a critical democratic moment.

During key moments of the election period, including campaign rallies and the announcement of presidential results,  journalists who shared updates and analysis on X (formerly Twitter) faced a surge of hostile posts. The dominant claim pushed online was that the media was “working for politicians” and deliberately misleading voters.

Hashtags attacking journalists and media houses trended for hours, accompanied by screenshots, edited clips, and emotionally charged language. At face value, the volume of posts suggested widespread public anger. Verification, however, required a closer look.

Election-related posts attacking journalists were monitored over a 48-hour period following major election developments. Analysis of the posts revealed notable patterns. Multiple accounts shared identical or near-identical captions, reused the same images, and posted within short time intervals.

AI-assisted text comparison tools helped highlight repeated phrasing and coordinated timing across accounts. While the tools did not determine intent or truth, they made visible similarities that warranted deeper human-led verification.

Further checks on several accounts pushing the attacks raised red flags. Many profiles had been created recently and showed little activity beyond election-related posts. Some accounts had no personal information, no interaction with followers, and no presence on other social media platforms.

Reverse image searches on selected profile photos revealed that some images had appeared elsewhere online, unrelated to Kenyan elections or journalism. One image was flagged by an AI image analysis tool as likely AI-generated, suggesting the account may not represent a real individual.

These indicators pointed to possible coordinated amplification rather than spontaneous political expression.

While journalists across the board faced online hostility, women journalists experienced a distinct form of attack. Many posts focused on their appearance, character, and personal lives instead of engaging with the substance of their reporting.

Media monitoring reports and research on online harassment in Kenya have consistently shown that women journalists are more likely to face gendered abuse, especially during elections. Such attacks aim not only to discredit individual reporters but also to discourage women from participating in political journalism altogether.

Insights from digital safety and verification sessions conducted under IAWRT training highlight how gendered disinformation intensifies during elections, when trust, credibility, and public perception are at stake.

No single tool provided definitive proof. Verification relied on a structured process: identifying the claim, analyzing posting patterns, checking account authenticity, verifying images, and applying editorial judgment. AI tools supported the work by speeding up comparisons and flagging anomalies, but conclusions were reached through careful human verification and cross-checking with trusted sources.

The findings align with broader conclusions by media watchdogs that online harassment of journalists during Kenya’s 2022 elections was, in some cases, amplified through coordinated digital behavior rather than organic public debate.

The integration of AI for audience engagement and analytics marks a revolutionary shift in the career trajectory of women journalists, transforming how they interact with both their craft and their consumers. By moving beyond traditional storytelling into the realm of data-driven insights, we are gaining a sophisticated understanding of reader preferences and behavior patterns. The ability to analyze sentiment and recommendation algorithms allows us to move from intuitive reporting to evidence-based content creation. This shift doesn’t just improve the quality of the news but also alters our role as journalists, turning us into a strategic architect of information who knows exactly how to capture and hold public attention in a saturated digital market.

While implementing AI-driven personalization strategies, productivity undergoes a radical evolution. No longer tethered to manual, time-consuming methods of gauging impact, we can now use automated analytics to inform editorial decisions in real-time. The technical fluency enables us to boost deliverables such as reach and retention with precision, ensuring that our reporting resonates with the communities we serve. By mastering tools that track performance and engagement, we can streamline our workflows by focusing our energy on high-impact investigative work while leaving the heavy lifting of data processing to intelligent systems.

This training also serves as a critical bridge to leadership and industry competitiveness by fostering innovation through hands-on technical skills. When we learn these interactive communication tools, we are not just adapting to new tech but also leading the charge in how newsrooms engage with the public. This allows us as women to lead digital transformation projects that were once relegated and assigned solely to our male counterparts. Furthermore, by being part of AI communities, even as users, we help ground this innovation in the rigorous evaluation of ethical and privacy considerations, we position ourselves as a necessary moral compass for the future of automated journalism.

Ultimately, the mastery of AI analytics serves as a powerful catalyst for professional growth and visibility. Integrating these tools into the editorial process allows women to demonstrate measurable impact, providing hard data to support their editorial instincts and career advancement. As we become experts in maximizing content performance through intelligent systems, we gain a significant edge in an increasingly competitive global market. This training ensures that women journalists are not merely keeping pace with the digital age but are actively defining its standards, ensuring their voices remain influential, productive, and indispensable to the future of the fourth estate.

To showcase these AI skills effectively, we are able to frame them as strategic business assets rather than just technical proficiencies. We shift our narrative from “content creator” to “media strategist.” On our CV or portfolio, we can emphasize tangible outcomes by describing how you utilized AI-driven sentiment analysis and recommendation algorithms to measurably increase audience retention and reach. By presenting these competencies as a marriage of editorial intuition and data science, we as women journalists can position ourselves as a high-value innovator capable of leading digital transformation and ensuring the long-term competitiveness of any modern newsroom.

We are in 2026 and the fight against fake news has turned into a high-tech race. As women in the media, we are stepping up as the ultimate guardians of the truth. By mastering AI tools, we are moving past the slow, manual ways of checking facts. Now, we use smart systems to scan data and catch “information disorder” at a rate we couldn’t imagine before.

Through the digital and AI training organised by IAWRT Kenya, we’re learning to spot the subtle tell-tale signs of a deepfake such as weird glitches in a person’s expression. This doesn’t just help us debunk fake images; it sets us up for our role in the newsroom and areas where we work. We are setting the bar for what is real and what is fake in this digital world.

As we get ready for World Radio Day and its theme of “Radio and AI,” we can see the change and impact happening in our broadcasts too. Radio has always been about that personal, human connection. Today, we’re using AI to protect that bond. In our daily shows, we use tools to transcribe live audio and verify where a clip came from, making sure that what our listeners hear is always the truth. Artificial intelligence also makes radio much more inclusive. We can use AI to clean up audio, translate for different languages, and make shows accessible for everyone. On this World Radio Day, we celebrate that while tech gives us a bigger megaphone, it’s our commitment to the facts that keep our listeners trusting us and tuning in.

The rapid evolution of technology continues to redefine journalism globally and Kenya is no exception. From digital platforms and mobile connectivity to AI-driven tools, the way news is gathered, produced, and consumed is changing fast.

During a recent training session dubbed AI Ethics, policy, and responsible use in Journalism in Kenya and tailored for female journalists in Kenya, Dr. Grace Githaiga who led the session unpacked how Kenyan media houses are already integrating AI into newsroom workflows from content moderation and fact-checking to managing misinformation while also highlighting emerging risks such as deepfakes, algorithmic bias, and disrupted information ecosystems caused by instances of AI hallucinations and so much more.

Dr. Grace underscored that while AI-powered tools (such as hybrid human-AI verification systems used by media houses and iVerify platform adopted by the Media Council of Kenya [MCK] ) can enhance efficiency and accuracy, editorial accountability must remain human-led. She also reflected on evolving policy efforts, including MCK’s move to integrate AI into the Code of Conduct, reinforcing that media houses remain ethically and legally responsible for AI-assisted content.

Key takeaways from the session included:

🔺 Newsrooms must invest in strong verification and deepfake-monitoring tools

🔺 Transparency in AI use is critical to public trust

🔺 Ethical AI frameworks should guide newsroom adoption

🔺 Credibility is a competitive advantage in the digital age

🔺 Audience education and media information literacy are a public interest priority

🔺 AI should supplement editorial judgement but not replace it

Here at International Association of Women in Radio and Television – Kenya we continue to empower female journalists across the country on AI and digital tools use, through sharing knowledge and tools necessary in this age of disruption in newsrooms.

Kenya ranks among the highest consumers of artificial intelligence globally, with tools such as ChatGPT leading the way. Recently, a friend introduced me to an online session by an AI Education Academy that focused on a critical conversation: the role of AI in Kenyan education. This discussion reinforced a key reality AI now touches every field, and no sector has been left behind.

For media practitioners, however, the rapid rise of AI initially came as a shock. Many journalists feared that their jobs would be replaced almost immediately. Today, the reality in our newsrooms tells a different story. When used responsibly and effectively, AI tools have simplified our work and enhanced efficiency rather than replaced human judgment.

In an era where a fake news tweet can circle the globe long before the truth is heard, the stakes for journalism have never been higher. Accuracy, verification, and public trust are more critical than ever.