FOMO in Sub-Saharan African AI Hype: The Quest for a Decolonized AI Adoption Framework

Danford Zirugo and Bruce Mutsvairo
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Danford Zirugo: Journalism and Creative Media, University of Alabama, USA
Bruce Mutsvairo: Department of Media and Culture Studies, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Media and Communication, 2026, vol. 14

Abstract: Based on an abductive analysis of 54 opinion, editorial, and analytical articles published between 2019 and 2025 in nine English-speaking Sub-Saharan African countries, this study examines negotiation of the place of AI within journalism. Conceptualizing AI hype as a form of metajournalistic discourse, the study finds that discussions about AI in journalism in Sub-Saharan Africa are driven by a fear of missing out and a call for a decolonial approach to the technology’s adoption in a way sensitive to the region’s context.

Keywords: AI hype; artificial intelligence; institutionalism; journalism; metajournalistic discourse; Sub-Saharan Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:meanco:v14:y:2026:a:12571

DOI: 10.17645/mac.12571

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