Artificial Intelligence in Journalistic Routines: Factors Hindering Uptake in South Africa and Ghana

Despite the growing presence of artificial intelligence (AI) in Western journalism, AI adoption in Africa has remained slow. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 18 journalists, this study examines the sociocultural factors hindering the use of AI in journalistic routines. The findings reveal that newsroom practices, insufficient infrastructure, bureaucratic hurdles, gaps, and inconsistencies in AI policies are key barriers. The findings further show that social influence, organizational support, and access to resources significantly influence AI adoption. The lack of training negatively affects effort expectancy, while prevailing discourse surrounding AI shapes journalists’ perceptions. These findings suggest that integrating AI into journalistic routines requires addressing the socio-cultural and organizational challenges identified through the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) framework. The analysis extends UTAUT by incorporating organizational and managerial support, including guidelines on AI ethics and routine use, resource provision, and structured training, as a core organizational driver of adoption. It also introduces job security assurance as a distinct construct shaping journalists’ behavioral intention to use AI. Finally, the analysis identifies bureaucratic friction, defined as policy and approval bottlenecks, as an additional barrier related to organizational conditions that must be modeled in African newsroom contexts.