Government data still not open enough

 

In the week of a major international summit on government transparency in London, the Open Knowledge Foundation has published its 2013 Open Data Index, showing that governments are still not providing enough information in an accessible form to their citizens and businesses.

The UK and US top the 2013 Index, which is a result of community-based surveys in 70 countries. They are followed by Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands. Of the countries assessed, Cyprus, St Kitts & Nevis, the British Virgin Islands, Kenya and Burkina Faso ranked lowest. There are many countries where the governments are less open but that were not assessed because of lack of openness or a sufficiently engaged civil society. This includes 30 countries who are members of the Open Government Partnership.

The Index ranks countries based on the availability and accessibility of information in ten key areas, including government spending, election results, transport timetables, and pollution levels, and reveals that whilst some good progress is being made, much remains to be done.

Rufus Pollock, Founder and CEO of the Open Knowledge Foundation said:

Opening up government data drives democracy, accountability and innovation. It enables citizens to know and exercise their rights, and it brings benefits across society: from transport, to education and health. There has been a welcome increase in support for open data from governments in the last few years, but this Index reveals that too much valuable information is still unavailable.

The UK and US are leaders on open government data but even they have room for improvement: the US for example does not provide a single consolidated and open register of corporations, while the UK Electoral Commission lets down the UK's good overall performance by not allowing open reuse of UK election data.

There is a very disappointing degree of openness of company registers across the board: only 5 out of the 20 leading countries have even basic information available via a truly open licence, and only 10 allow any form of bulk download. This information is critical for range of reasons – including tackling tax evasion and other forms of financial crime and corruption.

Less than half of the key datasets in the top 20 countries are available to re-use as open data, showing that even the leading countries do not fully understand the importance of citizens and businesses being able to legally and technically use, reuse and redistribute data. This enables them to build and share commercial and non-commercial services.

Pollock:

For the true benefits of open data to be realised, governments must do more than simply put a few spreadsheets online. The information should be easily found and understood, and should be able to be freely used, reused and shared by anyone, anywhere, for any purpose.

/ Ends

CONTACT: Open Knowledge Foundation on +44 (0)1223 422159 or index@okfn.org.

To see the full results: index.okfn.org.

For graphs of the data: index.okfn.org/visualisations.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

The Open Data Index is a community-based effort initiated and coordinated by the Open Knowledge Foundation. The Index is compiled using contributions from civil society members and open data practitioners around the world, which are then peer-reviewed and checked by expert open data editors. The Index provides an independent assessment of openness in the following areas: transport timetables; government budget; government spending; election results; company registers; national map; national statistics; legislation; postcodes / ZIP codes; emissions of pollutants.

Countries assessed (in rank order): United Kingdom, United States, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Australia, Finland, Sweden, New Zealand, Canada, Iceland, Moldova, Bulgaria, Malta, Italy, France, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland, Israel, Czech Republic, Spain, Ireland, Greece, Croatia, Isle Of Man, Japan, Serbia, Russian Federation, Ecuador, South Korea, Poland, Taiwan R.O.C., China, Indonesia, Hungary, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Jersey, Guernsey, Slovak Republic, Bermuda, Romania, Costa Rica, Bangladesh, Tunisia, Singapore, Lithuania, South Africa, Cayman Islands, Egypt, Nepal, Senegal, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Gibraltar, Belgium, Hong Kong, Barbados, Bahamas, India, Bahrain, Yemen, Burkina Faso, Kenya, British Virgin Is., Saint Kitts & Nevis, Cyprus. NB: a number of countries were not assessed, often because they were not open enough to have an active civil society able or free to safely carry out the research.

Open Data is information which can be freely used, reused and shared by anyone, anywhere, for any purpose. Truly open data demands a range of both technical and legal qualities which ensure that anyone can reuse it freely, for maximum benefit, and the Open Data Index assesses all of these. The Open Definition sets out the principles which define "openness" in relation to data and content: opendefinition.org

The Open Knowledge Foundation is an international non-profit working to open up information around the world so it can be used to empower citizens and organizations to build fair and sustainable societies. See: okfn.org

The annual summit for the Open Government Partnership will take place in London on 31st October to 1st November. More details at: opengovpartnership.org

See original blog post: http://blog.okfn.org/2013/10/28/government-data-still-not-open-enough/#sthash.ly2aGWkl.dpuf

 

International New Media Writing Contest 2013

The Media School at Bournemouth University is accepting entries for its New Media Writing Prize (NMWP).

NMWP is looking for innovative and interactive storytelling (fiction or non-fiction) written specifically for delivery and reading/viewing on a PC or Mac, the Web or a hand-held device such as an iPad or mobile phone. It could be a short story, novel, documentary or poem using words, images, film or animation with audience interaction.

The overall winner will receive GBP1,000 (US$1,616). The student winner will receive a three-month work placement at the leading e-learning company Unicorn Training, in Dorset, UK, with a weekly pay of GBP250 (US$404). The People's Choice winner, voted for by the public, will be awarded with GBP250.

The deadline is Nov. 25. The deadline for students is Dec. 13.

For more information, http://www.newmediawritingprize.co.uk/

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International Institute for ICT Journalism
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Ghana 2012 Elections in Pictures

After successfully covering Ghana elections 2012 under  "Enabling Peaceful Transparent And Credible Elections In Ghana Using New Media Project"African Elections Project (AEP) has launched Ghana Elections 2012 in pictures book which chronicles key memorable events and captivating moments that enlivened the otherwise calm country spanning the period before, during and after the elections. (To Download the Book CLICK HERE)   Ghana Elections 2012 In Pictures takes readers through colourful snapshots right from the political campaign trails, tours and rallies of the various political parties, through activities on the actual voting day to the closing moments of the whole electoral exercise. The spotlight is also shined on all the leading contenders in the 2012 Ghana elections. Some of the high profile politicians belonging to the various political parties were also captured exercising their ballots. The official results by the Electoral Commission of Ghana, key facts and figures about the polls, Basic Regional Electoral Statistics, some parliamentary candidates, the work of the various stakeholders such as election observers, civil society organizations (CSOs), journalists,security agencies, and the electoral commission as well as front pages of newspapers coverage of the elections are also captured in this picture book. The outcome of the 2012 Ghana presidential election which was contested in the Supreme Court of Ghana by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the subsequent ruling by the Supreme Court upholding the declaration of John Dramani Mahama by the electoral commission as the validly elected president is all documented by the book. The Ghana Elections 2012 in Pictures is a good read, helping readers to instantly connect to fond memories that characterized the general elections – both humorous moments that relaxed the country and tense moments that filled the atmosphere with an uneasy sense of foreboding. According to Jerry Sam, the Project Director of African Elections Project (AEP), "a picture says a thousand words, and the beautiful collection of pictures in this book is intended to summarily tell the story of the 2012 general elections in Ghana visually, and serve as reference document for happenings around the elections". African Elections Project (AEP), established in 2008 by the Penplusbytes Institute of ICT Journalism, is one of the continent's most authoritative elections information centres, committed to particularly ensuring peaceful and successful elections on the African continent. AEP has successfully covered elections in many African countries including Namibia, Mozambique, Botswana, Ghana and Togo. Other countries that the AEP has also successfully covered are Cote D'Ivoire, Niger, Mauritania, Malawi and Guinea. In 2010 The African Elections Project was selected as an innovative project during World Bank Innovation Fair held in South Africa.

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International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

Ghana 2012 Elections in Pictures

After successfully covering Ghana elections 2012 under  “Enabling Peaceful Transparent And Credible Elections In Ghana Using New Media Project”, African Elections Project (AEP) has launched Ghana Elections 2012 in pictures book which chronicles key memorable events and captivating moments that enlivened the otherwise calm country spanning the period before, during and after the elections. (To Download the Book CLICK HERE)

Ghana Elections 2012 In Pictures takes readers through colourful snapshots right from the political campaign trails, tours and rallies of the various political parties, through activities on the actual voting day to the closing moments of the whole electoral exercise.

The spotlight is also shined on all the leading contenders in the 2012 Ghana elections. Some of the high profile politicians belonging to the various political parties were also captured exercising their ballots.

The official results by the Electoral Commission of Ghana, key facts and figures about the polls, Basic Regional Electoral Statistics, some parliamentary candidates, the work of the various stakeholders such as election observers, civil society organizations (CSOs), journalists,security agencies, and the electoral commission as well as front pages of newspapers coverage of the elections are also captured in this picture book.

The outcome of the 2012 Ghana presidential election which was contested in the Supreme Court of Ghana by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the subsequent ruling by the Supreme Court upholding the declaration of John Dramani Mahama by the electoral commission as the validly elected president is all documented by the book.
 
The Ghana Elections 2012 in Pictures is a good read, helping readers to instantly connect to fond memories that characterized the general elections – both humorous moments that relaxed the country and tense moments that filled the atmosphere with an uneasy sense of foreboding.

According to Jerry Sam, the Project Director of African Elections Project (AEP), “a picture says a thousand words, and the beautiful collection of pictures in this book is intended to summarily tell the story of the 2012 general elections in Ghana visually, and serve as reference document for happenings around the elections”.

African Elections Project (AEP), established in 2008 by the Penplusbytes Institute of ICT Journalism, is one of the continent’s most authoritative elections information centres, committed to particularly ensuring peaceful and successful elections on the African continent.

AEP has successfully covered elections in many African countries including Namibia, Mozambique, Botswana, Ghana and Togo. Other countries that the AEP has also successfully covered are Cote D’Ivoire, Niger, Mauritania, Malawi and Guinea. In 2010 The African Elections Project was selected as an innovative project during World Bank Innovation Fair held in South Africa.

Guardian scoops online journalism awards for NSA coverage

ATLANTA (AFP) - Britain's The Guardian scooped up two awards for online journalism for its coverage of the National Security Agency (NSA) leaks from former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

The Guardian's exposure of the electronic surveillance by the US spy agency was honoured in the categories of innovative investigative journalism and watchdog journalism at the annual awards banquet here of the Online News Association (ONA).

Other online journalism award winners on Saturday included The New York Times and The Boston Globe, which both picked up multiple awards.

NYTimes.com was singled out for general excellence in online journalism, and the newspaper also picked up an award for feature reporting for a stunning multi-media presentation called Snow Fall about a deadly avalanche.

--
International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

Knight-Mozilla OpenNews Receives $4 Million Knight Foundation Grant

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has announced a $4 million grant to Knight-Mozilla OpenNews in support of its efforts to connect technologists with newsrooms, create new storytelling tools, and cultivate cultural change in the field of journalism.

The grant will support a number of initiatives in 2014, including a series of "code convenings" that bring together news developers and open-source contributors to collaborate on shared projects. OpenNews also will enhance its Source platform with more coverage and case studies, and will provide training and journalism-related code development events organized by its growing global alumni network.

Launched by Mozilla in 2010 and supported by Knight since 2011, OpenNews will add five news partners to its Knight-Mozilla Fellowship program in 2014. Alumni of the program continue to engage and innovate in journalism through their work in newsrooms, startups, and academia. The grant also will enable the project to continue its support of journalistic-themed "hack days," which to date have been held in twenty-two countries.

"By providing free, world-class technology solutions that any news organization can use, the OpenNews project has revealed the great value of open Web technologies and sparked adoption across the industry," said Michael Maness, Knight's vice president of journalism and media innovation. "In its next phase, it will work to build stronger bridges between the developer world and everyday newsrooms, while establishing itself as a source for continuous media innovation."

"Knight-Mozilla Effort to Foster Newsroom Innovation With $4 Million in New Funding." John S. and James L Knight Foundation Press Release 10/16/13. 

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International Institute for ICT Journalism
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Google launches Media Tools targeting Journalists

Google Media Tools - starting point to tap into Google's suite of digital tools that can enhance newsgathering and exposure across television, radio, print and online.

Whether it's refining your advanced search capabilities, improving audience engagement through Google+, or learning how to visualize data using Google Maps, this website is intended to guide you through all the resources Google offers to journalists

• Gather and Organize
  
• Visualize
  
• Publish
  
• Develop
  
• Additional resources : Google Politics & Elections, Transparency Report and Google Crisis Response
  

http://www.google.com/get/mediatools/

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International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

The Effects of Mass Surveillance on Journalism

Mass surveillance of the kind practiced by the NSA produces a chilling effect on journalism, because sources do not feel they can have a private conversation with a reporter. That's the message of a group of scholars, journalists, and researchers from Columbia Journalism School and the MIT Center for Civic Media, in a public comment to the Review Group on Intelligence and Communication Technologies convened by President Obama.

The 15 page letter argues that mass surveillance is harmful to journalism and incompatible with existing law and policy. It goes on to document recent chilling effects, showing that real harm has already occurred.

"Put plainly, what the NSA is doing is incompatible with the existing law and policy protecting the confidentiality of journalist-­‐source communications. This is not merely an incompatibility in spirit, but a series of specific and serious discrepancies between the activities of the intelligence community and existing law, policy, and practice in the rest of the government. Further, the climate of secrecy around mass surveillance activities is itself actively harmful to journalism, as sources cannot know when they might be monitored, or how intercepted information might be used against them."

The letter documents how NSA's domestic phone and internet surveillance activities contradict recent Department of Justice policy. The DoJ released new guidelines regarding access to reporter-source communication records in July, after a review prompted by the secret seizure of records for 20 Associated Press phone lines. The new guidelines say that "the Department views the use of tools to seek evidence from or involving the news media as an extraordinary measure" and requires advance notification to journalists in most cases, to give them the opportunity to contest the matter. It also requires Attorney General approval for searches and seizures.

The NSA operates with far greater latitude. It preemptively collects and archives the records of all calls made to or by journalists, effectively bypassing both the notice and the authorization provisions of the DoJ policy. The NSA operates under "minimization" procedures designed to protect the confidentiality of Americans' communications obtained by warrantless surveillance, but these rules contain an important exception: the NSA can report many different types of crimes to law enforcement authorities.

The letter argues that this double standard is intolerable: "there must be one set of rules, and those rules must protect journalist-­‐source communications." The authors also reject the logic of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court when it asserts that collecting information on everyone is no different, from a privacy point of view, than collecting information on specific individuals.

"The surveillance of essentially everyone has effects far beyond the surveillance of journalists alone. … For a free press to function we must also protect the means of communicating with a journalist. At the present time, the NSA has made private electronic communication essentially impossible."

This state of affairs has made sources nervous about talking to reporters. Journalists from news organizations including the Associated Press, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Center for Public Integrity have recently reported chilling effects. As quoted in a newly released report of the Committee To Protect Journalists, New York Times national security reporter Scott Shane describes the problem:

"There's a gray zone between classified and unclassified information, and most sources were in that gray zone. Sources are now afraid to enter that gray zone. It's having a deterrent effect. If we consider aggressive press coverage of government activities being at the core of American democracy, this tips the balance heavily in favor of the government."

Mass surveillance is not merely a theoretical risk to a free press, but has real consequences that are already preventing journalists from doing their job.

The comment was prepared by a group of  journalists and scholars with experience in investigative journalism, online media, and data mining, including Emily Bell, Shelia Coronel, Jonathan Stray, and Michael Schudson of Columbia Journalism School, and Ethan Zuckerman of the MIT Center For Civic Media.

http://towcenter.org/blog/the-effects-of-mass-surveillance-on-journalism/

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International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

Penplusbytes launches “Open Ghana: Data Journalism Project”

The international Institute of ICT Journalism (Penplusbytes) with funding and technical support from STAR-Ghana has launched a 2-year “Open Ghana – Data Journalism for Improved Maternal Healthcare Delivery” project.

The project aims at equipping selected journalists in four districts in the Volta region (Ho Municipal, Hohoe Municipal, Kpando and South Dayi districts) to harness innovations in data-driven journalism to tell impactful stories on maternal healthcare.

The key objective is to stimulate open expenditure on maternal healthcare by improving the coverage of maternal health stories using data journalism techniques to better inform and empower citizens, Community-based organizations (CBOs), and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) as they work to demand prudential maternal healthcare spending.

According to Mr. Maxwell Adu Gyamfi, Project Coordinator at Penplusbytes, “The Volta Region was selected as a pilot for the project based on a recent Ghana Health Service report which indicated that the Volta region was among 3 regions in Ghana which were struggling to attain the 50% target for skilled delivery set by the GHS under MDG5 which aims to reduce maternal mortality by three quarters by 2015.”

He added that “the project will embark on activities geared towards improving citizens’ engagements in demanding responsiveness from the district, regional and national health officials on maternal healthcare budgets especially opening up expenditure information for greater public scrutiny.”

Over the course of the project, Penplusbytes will develop interactive cutting edge online resources that will enable journalists, citizens and CSOs access and publish data on maternal healthcare delivery for a concerted advocacy work, undertake face-face forums that will bring stakeholders together to demand accountability from duty bearers and also issue regular SMS alerts to inform subscribers on the state of maternal healthcare delivery in the Volta region.

Penplusbytes is a not-for-profit organization established in 2001 that seeks to empower the media through the use of Information and Communications Technology to advance better journalism in the coverage of governance and accountability, new media and innovations, and mining, oil and gas sectors.

POWER REPORTING- The African Investigative Journalism Conference, 28-30 October 2013

TALKS AND TRAINING IN INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM

Three days of intensive training in investigative skills: Finding sources, telling your story, using data and databases, reading financial documents, using freedom of information laws, interviewing techniques. All this and more from journalists working in print, on radio and on television.
POWER REPORTING- The African Investigative Journalism Conference, 28-30 October 2013

SPEAKERS

◊ The corruption of Walmart David Barstow, New York Times

◊ The art of good writing Alex Kotlowitz , author There Are No Children Here

◊ From health to oil, corruption in Nigeria  Idris Akinbajo Premium Times

◊ Selling Drugs to Childen – BigPharma at work,  Luc Hermann Premieres Lignes Television

◊ Data Journalism Ron Nixon, New York Times

◊ Taco Kuiper Award winner Msindisi Fengu Daily Dispatch on Hostels of Shame

◊ The Carlos Cardoso Memorial Lecture: Guerilla Typewriters – fighting for media freedom,  Gwen Lister, founding editor of The Namibian

Conference courses on data journalism, reading company accounts, narrative journalism, media law 

REGISTER NOW

http://www.journalism.co.za/powerreporting

            

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International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

Keynote Remarks -Ambassador Deborah R Malac, USA Ambassador to Liberia @ "Empowering the Media to Play Active Watchdog Role over Mining, Oil & Gas Revenue and Resources in Liberia”

 

Keynote Remarks for Ambassador Malac

ILab-Liberia (Big Star Building: 20^th Street & Payne Avenue)

September 30, 2013 at 9:00AM

 

Event:  "Empowering the Media to Play Active Watchdog Role over Mining, Oil, and Gas Revenue and Resources in Liberia"

 

 

Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today about my country's commitment to and experience in promoting good governance and transparency in the extractive industries. 

 

 

 

First, let me applaud all of you for taking part in this media training workshop. Throughout my first year here, I have been impressed by the incredible energy of the Liberian media. 

 

Information is power.  By choosing careers in journalism, you have embraced the admirable responsibility of sharing information to help empower the Liberian people.

 

The press has an extremely important role to play in promoting good governance and responsible natural resource management.  Thorough and thoughtful media coverage of the extractive industries is important to raise public awareness and facilitate constructive discussions about the desired path forward.

 

Incomplete or inaccurate reporting of developments in these sensitive sectors can sometimes inadvertently inflame tensions and complicate reaching consensus.  Your participation here today demonstrates that you understand the importance of "getting it right." 

 

Why is it so important to focus on extractive industries like mining, oil, and gas?

 

Let me share a few points to help frame the conversation.

 

Governance Challenges:  Revenues from the oil, gas, and mineral sectors are notoriously difficult for governments to manage effectively, transparently, and inclusively.  Lack of transparency can lead to undesirable macroeconomic impacts like currency appreciation and commodity price fluctuations.  Likewise, it can impact the political economy by encouraging rent-seeking behaviors and corruption, and making it difficult for populations to hold their governments accountable.

 

The scale of the problem:  The Africa Progress Panel estimates that Africa loses more every year in illicit outflows ($63.4 billion) than it receives in aid and foreign direct investment combined ($62.2 billion).  Global Witness estimates that in 2010 the value of oil, gas, and minerals exported from Africa were nearly 7 times the value of international aid received.

 

Public Resources should provide public benefit:  Among Africa's "traditional" oil and gas producers, large percentages of the population are still living on under $2 per day including: Angola (66.3%), Cameroon (32.1%), Chad (81.7%), Nigeria (45.35%).

 

This is inexcusable.

 

The need here is especially great:  The UNDP Human Development Index Ranks Liberia at 174 out of 187 countries in terms of life expectancy, education and income. 

 

As an emerging producer in the extractive industries, Liberia has an opportunity to ensure that the natural resource revenues are managed for the benefit of its people.

 

The United States Government has put good governance and transparency right at the center of the work that we do in diplomacy and development.  It is in our shared interest to reduce poverty and spark economic growth around the world -- this will create greater security, prosperity, and even peace.

 

And we know that corruption and the lack of transparency eats away like a cancer at the trust people should have in their government, and at the potential for broad-based, sustainable, inclusive growth.

 

Corruption stifles entrepreneurship, and siphons funding away from critical services.  Poor fiscal transparency makes it impossible to hold governments accountable. And if these problems go on long enough, if they run deep enough, they literally can and have been shaking societies to the core.  Liberia's own history shows this to be true.

 

But how do we produce concrete changes in people's lives? 

 

Global transparency and governance initiatives play a vital role in helping countries – especially those with emerging energy sectors – ensure that extractive industry revenues are acquired transparently, in order to hold governments accountable for how they are spent.

 

The United States joined with several other countries to launch the Open Government Partnership in September 2011.  It is a network of support for government leaders and citizens working to bring more transparency and accountability to governments.  To become an official member of OGP, as Liberia did in April 2013, participating countries must embrace a high-level Open Government Declaration, deliver an action plan, and commit to independent reporting on their progress moving forward.

 

Active in Liberia and a few other select countries, the U.S. Department of State's Energy Governance and Capacity Initiative (EGCI), represents another part of the Obama Administration's effort to help bring the benefits of energy resources to the citizens of the countries where they are found.  EGCI's goals are country-specific, but the program broadly tries to ensure sound and transparent energy sector governance, primarily through government to government engagement.

 

An important partner in this effort is the U.S. Department of Treasury. By partnering with Treasury, EGCI is able to bring in government experts in revenue management and budget and financial accountability and facilitate the longer term partnerships and programs that we hope can facilitate sound financial oversight.

 

We recognize that our credibility depends on practicing what we preach, so we are trying to up our own game. In 2012, we announced our intention to follow Liberia's example and implement the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative in the United States.  As many of you may know, this effort requires disclosure of payments made by companies to the government and of payments received by the government from companies. 

 

We salute Liberia's EITI implementation, which has been on the cutting edge by going above and beyond the basic requirements of the initiative, and encourage Liberia to continue to try to adopt the challenging procedures that will enable the process to deliver the transparency results to which the country aspires. 

 

Additionally, Section 1504 of the United States' Dodd-Frank Act set a new, higher standard for transparency in the extractive industries, and has been a valuable tool in promoting increased transparency around the world.  This legislation requires certain publicly traded extractives companies to report their payments to governments around the world.

 

We believe transparent reporting of payments made to governments for the commercial development of oil, natural gas, and minerals at the project level will empower investors to have a more complete view of the value of their holdings, while empowering citizens to hold their governments to account for the decisions made in the management of valuable oil, gas, and minerals resources and revenues.

 

The European Union and G8 leaders have followed the United States' lead and endorsed "project by project" reporting requirements.

 

Countries don't need to lower their standards to achieve economic development. We need to work together to raise the bar for everyone.  For any of these transparency initiatives to succeed in the long-term, however, we must work together to build responsive institutions.  Our focus is therefore not only on helping partner governments, but civil societies get the tools needed to hold their governments accountable.

 

Accurate information is a powerful tool to promote constructive change.  And that's where you come in.

 

Thank you again for the invitation to join you this morning.  I look forward to continuing to benefit from your thoughtful media coverage of these very important extractive industries!

--
International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

PENPLUSBYTES TRAINS LIBERIAN JOURNALISTS ON EXTRACTIVE SECTOR

The 7-day workshop on"Empowering the Media to Play an Active Watchdog Role over Mining Oil and Gas Revenue and Resources" has been launched in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia by the USA Ambassador to Liberia, Her Excellency Deborah R. Malac with the call on the media to report accurately on the sector. She noted that "incomplete or inaccurate reporting of developments in these sensitive sectors can sometimes inadvertently inflame tensions and complicate reaching consensus".

The workshop organized by International Institute for ICT Journalism (Penplusbytes) in association with the National Black Programming Consortium and funding from Humanity United is to build the competencies of the participants to better report on the sector.

Madam Malac said revenues from the oil, gas, and mineral sectors are notoriously difficult for governments to manage effectively and therefore urged the media to focus on the extractive industry to promote transparency.

The President of Penplusbytes, Kwami Ahiabenu II in his opening remarks said "the 7 day workshop is designed to introduce practicing journalists to key issues surrounding Oil, Gas and Mining thereby helping them to develop the knowledge and skills to stimulate and feed public debate on how best to ensure that proceeds are used in the interests of their country and its citizens". Mr. Ahiabenu added, "our organization started working in the extractive sector in 2007 with the discovery of oil in Ghana and since 2010 we have been working with Revenue Watch Institute to expand our work to Uganda and Tanzania. We can count Nigeria, Cameroun and Cote d'Ivoire as some of our key countries of experience in the oil and gas sector and we are excited today to add Liberia to our countries of focus."

The project is made up of a training workshop, field trip to mining communities of Nimba and a civil society day forum where key civil society actors such  Publish What You Pay, Sustainable Development Institute and Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative will be discussing "Harnessing Liberia's Extractive Resources for Economic Development".The  media civil society Forum is designed to facilitate oil and gas information and knowledge exchange between the media and Civil Society Organisations(CSOs) to create effective opportunities for national dialogue on key oil and gas revenue management issues.

Top mining, oil and gas experts including Vulate J. Hage, Assistant Professor of Law-University of Liberia, Mohammed Amin Adam, Director Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP),Senior Senator Cletus WotorsonChair - Joint Committee on Oil and Energy Senate of Liberia,Karl Cottrell ,Country Manager, Chevron Liberia, Maureen Sieh of IREX among others are providing insights during this learning opportunity.Participants for the workshop are journalists drawn from various media organizations in Liberia, including, The Heritage, New Dawn Newspaper, Hot Fm 107.9, Liberian Observer Corporation/Daily Observer, Liberia Women Democracy Radio 99.1 and the Informer.
 
Editor's Note:
Penplusbytes established in 2001 seeks to empower the media through the use of ICTs to advance the course of journalism in 3 areas: governance and accountability, new media and innovations and oil, gas and mining.
Humanity United is a foundation dedicated to building peace and advancing human freedom. We lead, support, and collaborate with a broad network of efforts, ideas, and organizations that share our vision of a world free of conflict and injustice. Learn more at HumanityUnited.org, @HumanityUnited and Facebook.com/HumanityUnited.

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U.S. Envoy - Liberia Has One of the Freest Media in the World

United States Ambassador accredited to Liberia, Madam Deborah Malac, has
asserted that Liberia has one of the freest media in the world.

Against this backdrop, Amb. Malac challenged the Liberian media to exercise
complete responsibility in its reportage, especially reportage on sensitive
issues that are of national concern and security implication.

She made these assertions Monday, September 30, 2013 at the start of a
seven-day training forum for the Liberian media on the oil and gas sector.

The forum, which brings together seven Liberian journalists at the iLab in
Sinkor, Monrovia, is organized by the International Institute of ICT
Journalism (www.penplusbytes.org). The seven journalists were selected among
40 journalists, who initially applied for the training.

The US envoy's assertions come on the hells of incessant condemnations of
the incarceration of the Managing Editor of the closed FrontPage Africa
(FPA) Newspaper, Mr. Rodney Sieh, at the Monrovia Central Prison.

Mr. Sieh, a prominent Liberian journalist, was ordered jailed by the Civil
Law Court for failing to pay the amount of US$1,534,000.00 and L$10,500 to
former agriculture minister, Dr. Chris Toe for damages in a libel suit.

In addition, Mr. Sieh also failed to pay US$90,000 and L$6,800 as cost of
the court. It can be recalled that sometimes ago, Dr. Toe sued the
Management of FPA in which FPA was held liable for libel and was asked to
pay the amount of US$1,534,000.00 to the former agriculture ministry boss.

Dr. Toe said the FPA defamed his reputation when the paper published series
of articles linking him to corruption. He said the newspaper got its facts
wrong. But FrontPage Africa took an appeal to the Supreme Court of Liberia,
but was unable to perfect the appeal bond. Based on the legal proceedings,
the Supreme Court affirmed the lower court judgment and ordered the bail of
Cost on the FPA.

The Supreme Court is the final arbiter of justice in the country.

Despite this ruling against the FPA, the paper has since stood by its story
against Dr. Toe, Mr. Sieh has persistently stated that he did not do
anything wrong. The prominent Liberian journalist has spent a little over a
month in prison at the Monrovia Central Prison.

When he spoke recently at the launch of the "Free Rodney Sieh Campaign", the
President of the Press Union of Liberia (PUL), Mr. Peter Quaqua, averred
that the court system had been used to intimidate the media after years of
repressive and brutal attacks against the media.

He contended that the ruling from the court was "excessive." He pointed out
that the court's ruling to compel the FPA boss to pay the amount of US$1.5M
for libel damage is more than the war crime conviction of former Liberian
President Charles G. Taylor.

But the US envoy said though there may be some challenges along the way, the
Liberian media landscape is one of the freest in the world, reiterating that
the media needs to be responsible in its reportage.

"The press has an extremely important role to play in promoting good
governance and responsible natural resource management. Thorough and
thoughtful media coverage of the extractive industries is important to raise
public awareness and facility constructive discussions about the desired
path forward," said Amb. Malac.

She among other things added that incomplete or inaccurate reporting of
developments in sensitive sectors such as the oil and gas sector, sometimes
"inadvertently" inflame tensions and complicate reaching consensus.

EMMANUEL WEEDEE, Heritage

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