The JournalismAI Strategy Lab 2026 for African journalists and media professionals

Application Deadline: 29 November 2026 at 11:59 PM GMT.

Applications are actually open for the JournalismAI Strategy Lab. The JournalismAI Strategy Lab, beforehand the JournalismAI Academy, is a no-cost, five-week on-line programme for journalists and media professionals throughout Africa who need to transfer past experimenting with AI instruments and begin making knowledgeable, deliberate selections about how AI matches into their journalism and their newsroom.

The programme is designed by the JournalismAI workforce on the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and supported by Google.

Previous editions of the programme targeted on Sub-Saharan Africa. This 12 months, for the primary time, the programme is open to journalists and media professionals from throughout your complete continent, from North Africa to Southern Africa, and in every single place in between.

Each version brings collectively a cohort of as much as 20 contributors from throughout Africa, making a targeted house for peer studying, shared challenges, and sensible work. The programme combines expert-led masterclasses with hands-on workshops and structured peer dialogue, all grounded within the realities that contributors carry from their very own newsrooms.

African newsrooms face questions on AI which are typically lacking from world conversations, formed by the languages, assets, and realities of the continent. The Strategy Lab creates house to deal with these questions collectively, drawing on the expertise of friends working in comparable situations throughout the continent.

Requirements

• Journalists and media professionals from newsrooms in AFRICA.

• Each version of the Strategy Lab is open to journalists and media professionals working in newsrooms within the area served by that version. Fluency in English is required. Each cohort is proscribed to twenty contributors.
• The programme prioritises candidates who can take what they be taught again to their organisation, whether or not as editors, senior journalists, product leads, or founders of small impartial shops.
• Applications are welcome from all profession phases, roles, and newsroom sizes.
• No coding or technical background is required.

The Strategy Lab is NOT for:

• Freelancers; you have to be employed by or formally affiliated with a information organisation
• Journalists who are usually not fluent in English
• Journalists based mostly exterior of Africa

How The Programme Works

The Lab runs for over 5 weeks. The programme consists of two classes per week. Participants are anticipated to dedicate 5 hours per week to the programme, throughout the 5 weeks:

• Live displays on Tuesday (2 hours)
• Live workshops on Thursday (2 hours)
• Assignment to finish individually earlier than the next assembly (~60 minutes)

The programme additionally consists of an introductory week and a closing session, which occur on separate days throughout the 5 weeks.

The Five Modules

Each module is designed for contributors who could also be new to AI, or who’ve began experimenting however need to assume extra clearly about what they’re doing and why. The studying is cumulative; every week provides a layer, and by the top, contributors are outfitted to view their very own newsroom with recent eyes and a clearer sense of subsequent steps.

• Module 1 ➙ AI in Practice: Concepts & Applications [26 & 28 January]
• Module 2 ➙ Data, Tools & Workflow [2 & 4 February]
• Module 3 ➙ GenerativeAI for Journalism [9 & 11 February]
• Module 4 ➙ Risks, Ethics & Editorial Governance [16 & 17 February]
• Module 5 ➙ From Ideation to Implementation [23 February & 25 February]

Benefits

Participants depart the Strategy Lab with greater than a certificates. By the top of the 5 weeks, you’ll have:

• A grounded understanding of AI in journalism – what it’s, what it may do, and the place its limits lie
• Hands-on expertise evaluating and working with AI instruments in a structured surroundings
• A concrete motion plan or venture proposal to take again to your newsroom
• A community of friends out of your area and past, working via the identical challenges

How to Apply

• Applications are submitted by way of this application form
• The application consists of questions on your background, your newsroom, and the work you hope to undertake through the programme.
• This is a template for the letter of intent; you’re welcome to make use of it or adapt it.
• To submit your application, you will have to add a letter of organisational dedication out of your employer.

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the JournalismAI Strategy Lab