Safer-Media Initiative

05/10/2026

Gawu, a community in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, is just one of many communities across Nigeria where teachers remain committed and continue to educate and inspire our children despite challenging conditions and inadequate school infrastructure.

Under the CMEDIA Project, founded by the MacArthur Foundation, Safer-Media Initiative reported how members of the Gawu community contributed their own resources to construct a classroom block with moulded blocks, providing much-needed space for pupils at the only government school in the community.

As we mark World Teachers’ Day today, we celebrate and appreciate these teachers who continue to impart knowledge, nurture young minds, and remain committed to their calling despite difficult circumstances.

Their resilience, dedication, and sacrifice deserve recognition—not only today, but every day.

Happy World Teachers’ Day to all our dedicated teachers.

05/10/2026

Opportunity for journalists!

Applications are open for the 2027 Stringer Awards from .

The awards support journalists and creative practitioners who use public media to expose abuses of power and injustice.

💰 Grants: $9,000–$100,000.

📅 Apply by December 31.

twp.ai/4hvJ67

02/10/2026

At our meeting with the Embassy of Ireland in Abuja last month, Safer-Media Initiative’s Executive Director and CEO, Peter Iorter, introduced the Newsroom AI Policy Guidance Resources to Ms. Hickson, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy.

The engagement provided an opportunity not only to highlight the importance of these resources in addressing policy gaps around the adoption of artificial intelligence in newsrooms, as AI continues to shape journalism, media practice, and the broader information ecosystem, but also to highlight other key milestones of the AIM Project.

Ireland is among the European nations that have sustained their contribution to the funding of the IPDC Bureau, the funding partner of our Artificial Intelligence and Media (AIM) Project, coordinated by UNESCO’s Regional Office for West Africa in Dakar. It is under this project that the Newsroom AI Policy Guidance Resources were developed.

01/10/2026

"The celebration of Nigeria’s Independence Day therefore provides an appropriate platform for Nigeria to examine the connection between media independence, accountability, information integrity, public trust, civic space and democratic participation.” —Peter Iorter

Read the full story: https://tinyurl.com/58v2ek4u

01/10/2026

30/09/2026

Newsroom AI Governance Serves Public Interest, Not Just Journalists — Iorter

“When journalism is strengthened, the public becomes the primary beneficiary. By promoting the responsible use of artificial intelligence in newsrooms, we are helping news organisations sustain trust, information integrity and transparency. The public does not only have the right to know; it also has the right to credible information". — Peter Iorter, Executive Director and CEO, Safer-Media Initiative

Read more: https://bit.ly/4rCAqT0

30/09/2026

Our survey on how journalists in Nigeria are adapting to generative artificial intelligence tools, their safety concerns, policy challenges, and gender-related experiences asked:

Which of the following AI brand tools do you use at least once a week?

The figure below shows what we found.

ChatGPT is the single most popular AI tool, with 83% reporting usage at least once a week. Though ChatGPT dominates active use, weekly usage extends across other generative AI tools: 29% reported using Google Translate, 26% Google Lens, 21% Gemini, 18% Copilot, 16% Grammarly, while Quillbot recorded 12% and Perplexity 11% among the top AI tools used weekly.

Only 2% reported using the Nubia AI tool.

It appears that many other AI brands are not widely known, not only among the surveyed population but also among many other users of AI tools. For many people, AI is synonymous with ChatGPT.

28/09/2026

Information is not a privilege. It is power—and access to it must be safe.

On this International Day for Universal Access to Information, Safer-Media Initiative calls attention to a simple truth: people cannot make informed decisions, demand accountability, or participate meaningfully in society when reliable information is inaccessible, manipulated, or unsafe to seek and share.

In Nigeria, universal access must mean more than putting information online. It means building an information environment where journalists can report without fear, citizens can ask questions without intimidation, and everyone can access credible information without being overwhelmed by disinformation, hate, or harmful content.

Access without safety is not truly universal.

At Safer-Media Initiative, we are working towards a Nigeria where information serves the public interest—and where truth is easier to find, verify, and use.

07/09/2026

Safer-Media Initiative representatives with the Embassy of Ireland team after a strategic meeting to strengthen collaboration, held today at the EU Complex in Abuja.

31/08/2026

As part of the dissemination strategy for the resources—Editorial Policy Guidance on Artificial Intelligence for Nigerian Newsrooms, AI Readiness Guide for Newsrooms in Nigeria, and Gender-Sensitive AI Policy Guidance for Nigerian Newsrooms—which were unveiled recently in Abuja, the Executive Director and CEO of Safer-Media Initiative, Peter Iorter on Friday, 28 August 2026, conducted an outreach program in Lagos, Nigeria.

The engagement targeted media executives and senior editors, aiming to promote the resources among media organisations and encourage their adoption.

The resources were welcomed by several media organisations, including Voice of Nigeria, Lagos Television, Security NewsAlert, The Guardian Newspapers, and Metro FM 96.1.

These resources were developed under the Artificial Intelligence and Media (AIM) Project: Navigating the Present and Shaping the Future. The AIM Project is implemented by Safer-Media Initiative with funding support from the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) and coordinated by UNESCO’s Regional Office for West Africa in Dakar.