Onileimo’s Media Capacity Centre Trains Maritime Journalists on Use of Artificial Intelligence

—Says AI Is Just a Tool, Not a Replacement for Journalists

By DAPO OLAWUNI

Maritime journalists have been urged to adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI) in their work, but to hold on to verification, ethics and editorial accountability while doing so.

The call was made on Saturday at the opening of an Executive Training on AI for Maritime Journalists, organised by the Maritime Media and Capacity Development Centre, the capacity-building arm of First Mediacon Network Limited.

Participants at the training included veteran journalists; Funso Olojo, Kemi Dauda, Dapo Olawuni, Anozie Egolie, Adaku Onyenucheya, Steve Agbota, Yusuf Babalola, Tola Adenubi among others.

The Chairman of the Centre, Mr Sesan Onileimo, who also facilitated the programme, said the training fulfils a promise made at the 10th anniversary of the Annual Seminar for Maritime Journalists in December 2025, where the Centre was unveiled. He said it also ushers in the 2026 edition of the seminar.

Onileimo told participants that the profession is changing and journalists must change with it.

“We cannot afford to remain spectators in a technological revolution that is reshaping our profession. The future of journalism requires us to combine professional experience with technological competence, sound judgement and ethical responsibility,” he said.

He noted that AI is already helping journalists in several ways. “Artificial Intelligence is already assisting journalists with research, transcription, translation, data analysis, content development and multimedia production. When properly applied, these tools can improve efficiency, save time and allow journalists to concentrate on investigative reporting, critical analysis and public-interest journalism,” he said.

Onileimo cautioned that the technology has limits. According to him, AI is just a tool, it is not a replacement for the journalist or journalism.

“Yes, AI can generate information quickly, but that information may contain errors, misleading interpretations or fabricated details,” he said.

Turning to the maritime sector, he said reporting port performance involves cargo throughput, vessel turnaround time and operational costs. “AI can assist in organising and analysing such information, while journalists verify these figures and provide the necessary context for an interesting and fact-based report. Nevertheless, the credibility of our reports must never depend solely on information generated by AI. Official records, reliable documents and independent sources remain essential to responsible journalism,” he said.

He went ahead to list misinformation, fabricated images, deepfakes, plagiarism, copyright concerns and violations of data privacy among the risks of AI, and warned journalists to be careful with what they feed into such platforms.

Onileimo who is publisher of Shipping Position Daily newspaper, also appealed to corporate organisations in the maritime industry to partner with the Centre in advancing capacity development.

He said the training forms part of the corporate social responsibility initiatives of First Mediacom Network Limited, and thanked the CEO of Brooks Training Institute, Mr Emmanuel Maiguwa, for making the venue available at no cost.

The journalists were taken through the practical sessions by the CEO of Dells Prints, Mr Adebayo Babatunde, who explained what the training is meant to achieve.

“The purpose of this training today is to let journalists know how AI can enhance their productivity in the area of news writing, in the area of giving the public the right news, and not compromising accuracy, not compromising genuineness, not compromising the truth, and how they can use AI to create newsroom videos that can entice the public to their page or to their media house in order to gain more followership,” he said.

Babatunde also showed participants how AI can shorten the time it takes to turn out stories.
He advised the journalists to check everything the tools produce.

“In as much as we say use AI, we also believe that you need to verify facts that AI is generating for you, because we know that AI is a machine and can make mistakes. That mistake can be corrected by human correction” he said.