Abstract
This research investigated how artificial intelligence (AI) impacts climate change journalism in the Southern African region. The focus was on how community radio journalists in Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe utilize AI to report on climate change in marginalized rural communities often facing similar climatic conditions. Various AI tools have recently emerged that are changing news reporting on climate change issues. Climate change is a global concern worsened by human activities and manifests in rising temperatures, changing weather patterns with an increase in the occurrence of extreme weather events. Southern Africa, a region especially vulnerable to changing climatic conditions, presents countries such as Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe with various climate change mitigation and adaptation challenges. Although awareness of climate issues is growing, local media coverage often concentrates on isolated weather events, paying limited attention to these ongoing resilience strategies. This study explored how community radio journalists incorporated emerging AI technologies into community radio newsrooms, how these technologies supported and shaped their reporting on climate change resilience concerns in marginalized small-holder farming communities. This study was framed by Social Construction of Technology Theory and Agenda Setting Theory. The research employed a qualitative, exploratory research approach; non-probability purposive sampling; semi-structured interviews and reflexive thematic analysis; and took various ethical issues into consideration. The findings indicated that AI’s abilities in data analytics, content generation, and trend forecasting can elevate the quality and relevance of climate journalism in Southern Africa. This enabled community radio journalists to tell more nuanced stories and better serve the needs of marginalized rural audiences in Southern Africa. This study contributed to the evolving literature on the deployment of AI in community radio reporting in Southern Africa, specifically in their coverage of climate change issues in Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe.