Penplusbytes’ African Elections Project covers Zimbabwe Elections using new Digital Tools

Penplusbytes’ African Elections Project covers Zimbabwe Elections using new Digital Tools

Penplusbytes’ African Elections Project (AEP) http://www.africanelections.org is providing a comprehensive coverage of the Zimbabwe general elections slated for Monday 30^th July 2018.

Voters have been queuing at election centers all over the country from 7am local time today. This election is the latest turning point in the most tumultuous few months in almost four decades of Zimbabwe’s political history.

In November, Robert Mugabe was forced out of power after 37 years, following a peaceful military takeover supported by the vast majority of the 17 million population. This election could decide the former British colony’s course for decades to come.

The election pits Zanu-PF, the ruling party, against the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the longstanding opposition. Zanu-PF is led by Emmerson Mnangagwa, a 75-year-old former vice president known as “the Crocodile” who took power when Mugabe was ousted. Polls indicate a potentially close race, but one Zanu-PF should win.

The African Elections Project (AEP) established in 2008 to empower journalists to cover elections using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) across the continent is poised to use new digital tools to cover the elections.

According to the Programmes Director of Penplusbytes, Jerry Sam, “Most analysts have described this elections as a watershed event to determine the political future of Zimbabwe after years under Mugabe’s rule. We look forward to a peaceful elections and subsequent transfer of power as a continent. African Elections Project is excited to be following and bringing audiences up-to-the-minute updates on happenings till when polls close and afterwards.” 

He added that AEP is committed to contribute to a better election by working with the media and civil society organizations through the provision of independent information and impartial coverage using ICTs.

In addition to its flagship online portal, http://www.africanelections.org AEP is covering this elections using other new media tools such as Facebook, blogs, SMS and twitter http://www.twitter.com/africanelections

 

The project has recently covered the Malian Elections which took place on Sunday 29^th July this year and has successfully covered elections in Botswana, Namibia, Ghana, Mauritania, Mozambique, Malawi, Togo, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Uganda, Cameroon and Niger.

Through the AEP, over 100 journalists have been trained in the use of digital tools to cover elections in Africa. Over 17 million citizens have been reached across the continent.  

Penplusbytes urges all Zimbabweans to conduct themselves at the polls for a free, fair and peaceful elections.

DIGITAL STORYTELLING IN MAINSTREAM MEDIA

DIGITAL STORYTELLING IN MAINSTREAM MEDIA

“Everybody would be a reporter. Facts and opinions would flow without intervention, and

most definitely without the blessing of journalistic gatekeepers, who in this new world must

surrender control and share power.” - Katherine Fulton, 1993

What is Digital Storytelling?

It is an emerging term, one that arises from a grassroots movement that uses new digital tools to help ordinary people to tell their own 'true stories' in a compelling and emotionally-engaging form. These stories usually take the form of a relatively short story (less than 8 minutes) and can involve interactivity. Perfect examples of digital storytelling include restaurants showing how dishes are prepared, sports teams share training sessions and fitness tips with their fans (e.g., UCLA Athletics) and fashion icons putting up tutorials on how to mash an outfit together.

Digital storytelling is different to traditional print journalism. As mobile becomes the default device and visuals beat text, journalism is changing. Navigation is based on tap and swipe, video commands attention, graphics and quotes communicate better than copy. Distribution on third party platforms is essential to reach an audience. We are drowning in data on user behaviour, and only just grasping how to understand what it is telling us. Most publishers are aspiring to build paid subscriptions to reduce dependence on advertising revenues. 

Traditional storytelling involves a narrator transmitting a fixed story to an audience of one or more, employing various verbal tones, physical gestures, and facial expressions to evoke reactions and participation from the audience. This process is anchored in the reality that the story’s basic structure never changes.

Digital storytelling, however, omits the need to stick to one narrator, meaning that several narrators can step onstage simultaneously, exerting their influence through responses, comments, continuations, alternative stories, and various other means. In short, the barrier between storyteller and listener is no longer an impermeable one.

So how are publishers and journalists adapting their editorial craft for digital media?

In Ghana, some media houses are adapting to social media outlets such as Facebook with snippets of their mainstream stories. What has been absent however is the level of engagement with audiences on these platforms. 

Elsewhere, The Washington Post is on Snapchat and publishes all its stories on Apple News. Vogue’s Instagram feed is full of relatively raw, vertical backstage videos.

The message for publishers is to break down content into its constituent parts and adapt the style of journalism to suit each platform, while being mindful of the move to more visual, mobile friendly content. Smart tracking of reader behaviour will uncover what style of presentation works for each topic and audience.

Digital storytelling is much more integrative than traditional storytelling, incorporating non-linguistic elements that spawn new narratives. Images, visual and audio effects are not just augmentations to the story but are an integral and inseparable part of it, meaning that variety, multi-sensory stimulation, and multiple media channels are a must in digital storytelling.

17 years of deploying tech for effective governance in Africa – A statement by the Executive Director

17 years of deploying tech for effective governance in Africa – A statement by the Executive Director 

On 18^th July 2001, the founding members of Penplusbytes birthed their dream into reality. It started off as a media training institute mandated to raise a new crop of journalists well versed in the use of ICTs to enhance their work. Indeed, this initiative was a success and an evolving one for that matter. 

Several years on, the reality of PENPLUSBYTES (www.penplusbytes.org ) has been to deliver innovative and user friendly tech solutions to pertinent issues in the governance, extractives and new media space. The organisation has made in-roads into empowering citizens to demand better health delivery and has become a force to reckon with in using technology to enhance the work of citizens and civil society in the fight against corruption. 

17 years of continuous use of tech and innovations is indeed no mean feat and worthy of celebrating. We couldn’t have made this milestone without the efforts of our board, management and staff whose contributions have surged the organisation forward in its strategic direction.

This New Year marks a moment for positive reflection and we are indeed grateful for an opportunity to continually impact our society and country at large.

From our humble beginnings of solely training media persons in the use of ICT tools, we have evolved to deliver projects and consultancy in diverse areas which has challenged our standards and introduced us to a whole new world worthy of exploration. We are going deeper and better in this New Year and we do not intend to leave any one associated with our brand behind in the new drive towards excellence.

To our clients and stakeholders, we are poised to deliver more than before and would continue to prove ourselves worthy of our vision to be a leader in deploying technology for effective governance in Africa and beyond.

To our board, we are thankful for your continual support and insight, which has kept the organisation up and going till date. 

To Team Penplusbytes, Ayekoo!!! Your sense of duty has made us who we are now. Let us continually strive on in one accord to make the Penplusbytes vision a reality.

Happy 17^th Anniversary to us all!!!

Kwami Ahiabenu II, Executive Director, Penplusbytes