Communication Education for the Algorithmic Age: A Theoretical Framework of AI Literacy, Critical Media Competence and Professional Formation in Mass Communication Programmes

Abstract

Mass communication programmes prepare students for industries that artificial intelligence is remaking. Yet curricula in many African universities still centre on print, broadcast and public relations as they were practised before the platform era. This conceptual, non-empirical paper develops a framework for communication education under algorithmic conditions. It draws on the journalism-education and media-literacy literatures, on emerging scholarship on AI literacy, and on peer-reviewed research published between 2023 and 2026 on AI in communication curricula, on student learning with generative AI and on AI in the communication professions. Every source was checked against its Crossref record and screened for retractions and corrections. The paper distinguishes three competence domains that AI makes central. AI literacy is understanding what AI systems do and fail to do. Critical media competence is the ability to evaluate content that is produced and distributed by algorithms. Professional formation is the ethical identity that governs how communicators use the tools. The paper argues that AI literacy is being added to curricula as a technical module, while critical media competence and professional formation, which are harder to teach and more durable, are neglected. It derives six propositions. They concern the competences that keep their value as tools change, the relationship between AI use and the development of the writing, verification and judgement skills on which communication professions depend, the conditions under which media-literacy instruction is effective, and the institutional conditions for curriculum reform in resource-constrained universities. The paper concludes with a curriculum framework for Nigerian and African mass communication programmes that sequences foundational skills before AI augmentation, embeds critical competence across the programme, and builds professional formation through supervised practice.