As AI Enters Newsrooms, MMfD Launches ‘Sahafat.AI’ to Put Journalists in Control
In a significant development for Pakistan’s media landscape, Media Matters for
Democracy (MMfD) has launched a new initiative aimed at reshaping how newsrooms
operate in the age of artificial intelligence. The initiative, titled Sahafat.AI, promises to
equip newsrooms with customised AI tools while keeping journalists, not algorithms, at the
centre of the transformation.
The initiative, officially launched on Monday, is being described as one of the first of its
kind in the country: a newsroom-driven, ethically grounded AI integration programme
designed specifically for Pakistani media. MMfD says it will work with three major news
organisations over the course of 2025 to co-develop enterprise-level AI solutions that are
tailored to the editorial workflows, content priorities, and operational needs of each
newsroom.
“This isn’t about handing over a generic tool and asking newsrooms to adjust,” said Asad
Baig, Executive Director of MMfD, in a statement. “This is about co-building systems that
respect how journalism actually works, systems that are rooted in the editorial reality, not
in tech abstraction.”
The first newsroom to join the initiative is Samaa Digital, one of the country’s leading
media outlets. According to MMfD, the work with Samaa will be rolled out in phases,
beginning with a comprehensive mapping of editorial workflows, followed by the
development and implementation of newsroom-specific AI solutions. The collaboration will
also include tailored training for editorial staff, ensuring that journalists are not just passive
users of these tools, but informed operators capable of adapting and shaping them.
Sahafat.AI comes at a time when newsrooms across the globe are under growing
pressure to adopt AI-driven technologies, often without a clear roadmap or a say in the
design. MMfD’s approach appears to be a deliberate response to that trend: a model
where technology supports journalists, rather than sidelining them.
The tools developed under Sahafat.AI will cover a range of core editorial functions, from
information management and research to trend monitoring, verification, and audience
engagement. The programme also aims to address some of the sector’s chronic
challenges, such as newsroom burnout and the ever-accelerating pace of the news cycle.
For MMfD, the launch is the culmination of over a year of engagement with journalists,
editors, and media professionals across the country. According to Baig, much of that
dialogue revolved around both the promise and the unease that AI brings to the editorial
table.
“There’s a lot of excitement, but also a lot of anxiety,” he said. “Our role is to ensure that
this transition is done in a way that strengthens journalism, rather than hollowing it out.”
Sahafat.AI also reflects MMfD’s long-standing stance on the intersection of technology and
media: that digital transformation should be human-centric, rights-based, and led by the
industry itself. The organisation has previously been at the forefront of digital rights
advocacy and has led multiple initiatives on disinformation, newsroom sustainability, and
media innovation.
With Sahafat.AI now formally underway, MMfD says more newsroom partnerships and
technical milestones will be announced in the months to come. For now, the message is
clear: in Pakistan’s AI-powered media future, journalists must not only have a seat at the
table, they should help design it.
