A Lagos-based communications and reputation management agency, Carpe Diem Limited, has emphasized the need to establish ethical infrastructure for the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Nigeria's media industry. The firm also called for special incentives to address the funding crisis and other challenges faced by practitioners and media organizations.
Key Recommendations from the Report
The recommendations were outlined in a new report titled 'The Future of Media and PR Collaboration in Nigeria,' released to mark World Press Freedom Day 2026. The intelligence report draws on responses from journalists across 17 media organizations, revealing five structural findings that challenge how Nigeria's communications industry engages with the press.
The report is based on structured responses from working journalists and media practitioners across print, digital, broadcast, and independent platforms in Nigeria, combined with the latest global data on press freedom, institutional trust, AI adoption in newsrooms, and media economics.
AI Adoption Outpaces Ethical Safeguards
The report revealed that AI has entered Nigerian newsrooms, but the ethical infrastructure has not kept pace. A majority of practitioners use AI tools for research, editing, transcription, and writing assistance. However, concerns remain consistent, including laziness, erosion of originality, and the growing potential for AI to serve disinformation at scale. According to the report, only 12 percent of audiences globally are comfortable with news made entirely by AI.
Funding Crisis Undermines Journalism
The report states: 'The funding crisis is the story behind the stories. Financial fragility is not a background condition in Nigerian journalism; it is the primary operating reality.' The RSF 2026 World Press Freedom Index ranks Nigeria 112th out of 180 countries, still in the 'difficult' category despite a ten-place improvement in 2025. Social media has restructured distribution without resolving the economic problem. Nigeria's 107 million internet users represent a vast audience, but audience scale has not translated into media sustainability.
Influencers and journalists operate in different ecosystems, not competing ones. Professional journalism is distinguished by verification, editorial accountability, and objectivity, while influencers are not held to equivalent standards.
Media-PR Relationship Needs Restructuring
The report noted that the media-PR relationship is transactional when it should be structural. The most actionable finding is what journalists want from communications professionals: earlier engagement, tailored pitches that demonstrate genuine knowledge of their beat, transparency about sponsored content, and relationship-building that happens before either side needs anything from the other.
Industry Leaders Call for Action
The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Carpe Diem Solutions Limited, Edward Israel-Ayide, said: 'We publish this report not as a critique of either industry, but as an honest accounting of where both stand and what each owes the other. Nigeria's media ecosystem is more resilient than it is often credited with. The journalists represented here are talented, committed, and clear-eyed about the conditions in which they work. They deserve communications partners who meet that standard. This report is our invitation to the industry to begin the conversation.'
Key Data Points
- 84 percent of Nigerians worry about distinguishing real from fake news online, the highest rate among countries surveyed globally, according to the Reuters Institute DNR.
- Nigeria's income-based trust gap in media has reached an all-time high, doubling since 2022.
- Only 12 percent of global audiences are comfortable with news produced entirely by AI, yet Nigerian newsrooms are adopting AI tools without the ethical guardrails that better-resourced newsrooms can draw on.
- 160 out of 180 countries globally are struggling with financially unstable media outlets, according to Reporters Without Borders 2026.
