Mr. Ibrahim Khalilulahi Usman, a Ghanaian investigative science journalist, has won the Best News Story / Feature Category at the Africa Science Journalism Awards for his groundbreaking investigation into coastal erosion in Ghana.
Now in its second phase, the awards — organised by the Science for Africa Foundation (SFA) — honour journalists whose reporting strengthens public understanding of science and combats misinformation across the continent.
The announcement was made at the 13th World Conference of Science Journalists in Pretoria, South Africa, marking the first time the global event was hosted on African soil.
“These awards recognise more than excellence. We celebrate the courage to investigate, the persistence to verify, and the creativity to translate — qualities our finalists exemplified,” said Dr. Evelyn Gitau, Chief Scientific Officer of the SFA Foundation.
She added that each winner demonstrated how science is not confined to institutions but is a living, breathing part of Africa’s daily life and future.
Journalism in the AI Era
In his acceptance speech, Mr. Usman reframed journalism’s fundamental challenge in the age of artificial intelligence. Referencing The Elements of Journalism by Kovach and Rosenstiel (2001), he highlighted the first principle: journalism’s obligation to the truth.
He noted that while this principle once addressed traditional verification challenges, today’s journalists face dual verification requirements in an AI-driven era.
“As science journalists, our responsibility is to prioritise truth, leveraging AI responsibly to enhance our work. This means we have two tasks: verifying information created with AI by humans, and verifying information created by humans using AI,” he explained.
He stressed that although this dual responsibility is demanding, it presents an opportunity to use AI responsibly to strengthen journalistic reporting.
Depth and Dedication
Mr. Usman’s award-winning investigation, supported by Dialogue Earth and Wits University, required four months of research and fact-checking. He explained that the timeline reflected the depth necessary for responsible science journalism in an era where AI can generate plausible but potentially inaccurate content at scale.
—Yussif Ibrahim/GNA