ASSESSING THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE BY SELECTED MEDIA ORGANISATIONS IN MINNA, NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

Despite the growing global integration of AI in journalism practice, adoption among media organisations in
developing country contexts such as Minna, Niger State, remains limited and understudied, creating a significant gap
between AI's transformative potential and its actual deployment in the newsroom. This study examined AI deployment
across nine media organisations registered under the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Minna namely, Radio
Niger, NTA Minna, Niger State Television, Newsline Newspaper, Ultimate FM, Prestige FM, Niger State Ministry of
Information, Maw Radio, and Badeggi FM. Anchored on the Diffusion of Innovation Theory, the Technology
Acceptance Model, and Technological Determinism, the study adopted a concurrent triangulation mixed-methods
design, combining structured questionnaires administered to 196 journalists with semi-structured interviews
conducted with 10 senior media professionals, yielding a response rate of 92.35%. Findings reveal high AI awareness
(82.9%) but severely limited organisational adoption (22.1%), with utilisation confined largely to speech-to-text
transcription. Reported benefits include faster news production and reduced workload; however, these gains are
significantly constrained by poor digital infrastructure, limited technical competence, and the complete absence of
institutional training and ethical guidelines across all nine organisations. The study concludes that structural,
educational, and policy-related barriers rather than attitudinal resistance are the primary impediments to effective AI
integration in Minna's media sector, and recommends targeted investment in infrastructure, capacity-building, and
regulatory frameworks to support responsible AI adoption.