• More than 500 media leaders gathered in Nairobi on Feb. 25–26 for the fourth African Media Festival under the theme “Resilient Stories: Reinventing Media Freedom.”
• Organizers launched the Africa Media Awards in partnership with the Africa Editors Forum and Journalists for Human Rights.
• Industry leaders flagged falling revenues and the rise of generative AI as central threats to traditional media models.

The Kenyan capital Nairobi is hosting the African Media Festival (AMF) from Wednesday, Feb. 25 to Thursday, Feb. 26. Organizers placed the fourth edition under the theme “Resilient Stories: Reinventing Media Freedom” and brought together more than 500 executives, editors, creators and policymakers to debate the future of African journalism.

Kenya-based media incubator Baraza Media Lab organized the event and framed it as a working forum rather than a ceremonial gathering. “The AMF is not a ceremonial conference. It is a space where African media leaders come together to confront sector realities and co-create solutions capable of ensuring journalism’s sustainability for the next generation,” said Martie Mtange, curator of the media lab.

Organizers added a new independent recognition platform, the Africa Media Awards (AMA), in collaboration with the Africa Editors Forum and Journalists for Human Rights. The platform aims to recognize excellence in journalism while strengthening credibility and media freedom across the continent.

Participants placed revenue decline and the rise of artificial intelligence-generated content at the center of discussions.

Revenue Decline

Structural disruption in the media industry is driving deep changes that are reshaping traditional journalism paradigms.

In the report titled “Journalism and Technology Trends and Predictions 2026,” Nic Newman, associate researcher at the Reuters Institute, wrote: “We are only at the beginning of another major technological revolution (generative artificial intelligence) that threatens to disrupt the news industry by offering more efficient ways to access and process information at scale. At the same time, creators and influencers (humans) are driving a shift toward personality-led news, at the expense of traditional media.”

The same report stated that large, well-established creator-led companies are evolving into full-fledged media brands and generating substantial profits, thereby intensifying competition with traditional press outlets.

Moreover, these new players are delivering tailored value to audiences who easily identify with their content. The analyst argued that traditional media outlets, which often rely on rigid formats that have become less attractive, will face inevitable decline if they fail to innovate. He added that shrinking visibility and profitability will directly translate into lower revenues.

AI Intrusion

Journalism is entering a new artificial intelligence era and facing what the report describes as an intrusion. Traditional outlets are emphasizing human expertise while simultaneously integrating AI tools into newsrooms to improve efficiency and editorial quality.

However, this balancing act has not always succeeded. A recent study by the European Broadcasting Union found that outputs from ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini distorted information nearly one time out of two.

Despite these concerns, the report concluded that media executives increasingly view artificial intelligence and generative AI as strategic components of their operations, with their importance rising year after year.

Industry leaders acknowledged that media organizations must overhaul their business models despite significant barriers to innovation.

Ubrick F. Quenum