Artificial intelligence (AI) and future newsrooms: A study on journalists of Bangladesh

Sanjoy Basak Partha; Maliha Tabassum; Md. Ashraful Goni; Priyanka Kundu

doi:10.24135/pjr.v30i1and2.1235

Sanjoy Basak Partha Bangladesh University of Professionals, Dhaka
Maliha Tabassum Bangladesh University of Professionals, Dhaka https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1078-1317
Md. Ashraful Goni Bangladesh University of Professionals, Dhaka
Priyanka Kundu Bangladesh University of Professionals, Dhaka

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24135/pjr.v30i1and2.1235

Keywords: AI literacy, artificial intelligence, Bangladesh, journalists, newsrooms, technology

Abstract

Many Western and economically developed countries have already incorporated Artificial Intelligence (AI) into their newsrooms. As the media industry is constantly addressing new technological advancements, media scholars are highly confident about the combination of AI and the newsroom. This research investigates AI as a new prospect in the Bangladeshi journalism arena, focusing on the current state of AI usage and projecting the future by evaluating professional journalists’ ‘Mental Readiness’ across a variety of media companies. In the first phase, from the survey of 107 working journalists from 20 different news organisations, this study finds that journalists possess a mostly positive attitude towards AI and are willing to incorporate current technologies in their newsrooms. The majority of journalists are informed, yet many of them lack sufficient AI literacy. In the second part, in-depth interviews with five newsroom editors reveal that it is difficult for Bangladesh to make a significant transformation within a short period. Most of them believe that providing AI-enabled newsrooms in a developing country like Bangladesh is still a long shot, owing to economic and technological constraints.

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Author Biographies

Maliha Tabassum, Bangladesh University of Professionals, Dhaka

Maliha Tabassum is currently working as a lecturer in the department of Mass Communication & Journalism at Bangladesh University of Professionals. She completed both her B.S.S & M.S.S studies from University of Dhaka with distinguished academic results. She has completed M.A. from Coventry University, UK. Her research interest includes communication and technology, data journalism, multimedia journalism etc.

Md. Ashraful Goni , Bangladesh University of Professionals, Dhaka

Md. Ashraful Goni is serving as an Assistant Professor in the department of Mass Communication & Journalism at Bangladesh University of Professionals. He is currently a Ph.D student at Texas Tech University, USA. He completed his B.S.S and M.S.S studies from University of Dhaka.

Priyanka Kundu, Bangladesh University of Professionals, Dhaka

Priyanka Kundu is serving as a lecturer in the department of Mass Communication & Journalism at Bangladesh University of Professionals. She completed her B.S.S and M.S.S studies from University of Dhaka. She has multiple research articles published from reputed international journals. Her research interests include media studies, political communication, democracy and freedom of expression, media ethics etc.

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