Smart Newsroom or Structural Divide? AI Adoption and Regional Inequality in Portuguese Journalism

This article presents the first comprehensive study of Artificial Intelligence (AI) integration within the Portuguese news media landscape, based on a mixed-methods design combining a systematic literature review, a nationwide survey, and focus groups. The findings reveal a two-tiered ecosystem: while large multimedia conglomerates based in urban centres are beginning to institutionalise AI for tasks such as data processing and content distribution, adoption in regional and local newsrooms remains fragmented, driven largely by individual initiative. Journalists primarily deploy AI for routine, often invisible tasks – including transcription, translation, and search engine optimisation – while expressing ethical reservations about the use of AI in automated content production. Key professional concerns include the “efficiency paradox,” the implications of synthetic media for disinformation, and the potential erosion of journalistic authorship. By exposing structural asymmetries and negotiating practices within newsrooms, this article critiques universalist discourses surrounding the “smart newsroom” and argues that AI trajectories are deeply shaped by questions of newsroom sovereignty and sustainability. Portugal is positioned as a critical case study for examining technological change in non-dominant media systems.