PenPlusBytes

Announcing the Knight News Challenge - 2012

2012-02-10T00:04:00.001-08:00

Today, Knight Foundation is announcing the details of the revamped Knight News Challenge, offering funding for the best new innovations that digitally inform and engage communities.

For the first time, the challenge will be offered three times this year, in short, more focused rounds, as a way to better mirror the pace of innovation.

Themed "Networks," round one is our search for ideas that leverage and maximize the impact of the best existing media platforms to convey news and information.

Applications for funding for the first challenge will be accepted Feb. 27 - March 17.

4th Penplusbytes Global Online Course in ICT Journalism (April 20 to July 20 2012)

2012-02-08T05:55:00.001-08:00

Dates: April 20 to July 20 2012

Duration: 4 months

Location: online

Introduction

Penplusbytes' innovative global course in ICT Journalism provides a unique online training opportunity for journalists in the exciting area of ICT Journalism. Participants will be exposed to the wider context of ICTs assisted journalism including how these technologies are impacting on the world of journalism, how to harness the power of ICTs in producing high quality impactful stories, and how to manage change process in using innovative ICT tools. This course provides skills and knowledge within a practical interactive learning environment with the main goal of strengthening capabilities in both multimedia and online news production while increasing understanding of the rapid changing environment in newsroom operations due to opportunities and challenges Information and communication Technologies revolution brings. After successfully completing the course, each participant should be able to produce and implement a variety of creative solutions for online news operations.

Course Description and Goals

At the end of the course, the participants will learn five main sets of skills and knowledge

· You will learn and understand the broad spectrum of ICT tools changing the face of journalism

· You will learn how to research and publish content online

· You will learn how to leverage the power of social media in news settings

· You will learn that despite the proliferation of technology for journalism the fundamental principles of journalism still apply.

· You will learn to undertake digital story telling

Course Outline

The course is divided into eight modules:

1. ICT Journalism – concept, theory and definition

2. ICT tools for Journalism – online production, social media, content management system, online newsroom management and publishing platforms

3. The role of information and knowledge management in the newsroom

4. Writing for the web

5. Online Security

6. Online Research

7. Data Journalism

8. Business Models of Online Journalism

Prerequisites

This course does not have any special prerequisites though participants will need to have basic computer skills such as sending and receiving mails, managing files and browsing the Internet. The course assumes participants are practicing journalists who have mastered journalism skills. Applicants should exhibit a passion for news, interest in the use of technology for the improvement of journalism and speak and write fluently in English.

Class Meeting

Participants are expected to meet online via group discussion weekly, it is expected that each participant must devote at least five hours per week online.

Materials

Participants will be provided with regular resources throughout the duration of the course, these resources will mostly be available online.

Grading

Participants are expected to undertake weekly assignments, participate in online discussions, create and publish content using ICT tools and produce a final project work to be published on www.penplusbytes.org

Certificates

All participants who complete the course successfully would be awarded a certificate.

Important Dates

· Closing date for receipt of application and statement is 29^th February 2012.

· Notification of acceptance: 5^th April 2012

· Course starts on April 20^th 2012.

Application
To apply, go to http://www.africanelections.org/email_form.php to fill out application form and upload documents required

Requirements

1. Application form

2. Letter of Motivation (250-300) explaining how this course will contribute to your professional growth and development; how you plan to implement knowledge and skills gained from the course and strategies of sharing knowledge and skills with members of your organization.

3. CV

4. Letter of consent from your editor or supervisor

For more information send an email to training@penplusbyes.org

Visit course blog: http://mediaictrain.blogspot.com

Join our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/groups/7775446390/ and join our network of ICT Journalists at http://penplusybytes.ning.com/

Engaging, informative, and high-quality online training course created and offered by www.penplusbytes.org

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International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

RWI Accepting Applications for Media Training Program- oil and gas

2012-02-03T08:58:00.001-08:00

This May, in Kampala, Uganda, Revenue Watch will begin our third class for African journalists seeking new expertise in reporting on oil, gas and minerals.

Without an informed, responsive media community providing oversight of the money from these industries, governance weakens, corruption rises and citizens lack the knowledge to hold their governments accountable and the opportunity to benefit fully from their country's natural resource wealth.

The application process is open to journalists from Ghana and Uganda. The program is designed for individuals with a demonstrated interest in reporting about the extractive sectors of oil, gas and minerals. To fill out an application now, go to:www.revenuewatch.org/mediatraining2012.

This latest class in our ongoing media training program is conducted in partnership with the African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME) in Uganda, Ghana-based Penplusbytes and the Thomson Reuters Foundation. After the initial Uganda session from 14-23 May, two parallel workshops will be held, one for Ugandan participants in Kampala on 20-29 August, and one for the Ghanaians on 3-12 September in Accra.

RWI and our partners take a holistic approach to our journalist trainings, combining workshops, roundtable discussions and field trips with expert dialogues, mentorships, reporting grants and presentations on topical issues.

The most recent training included a study trip to Cameroon, where Ghanaian journalists met with their counterparts in local media, as well as civil society activists, company executives and government officials in the oil, gas and mining sector in the commercial capital of Douala. In December, three of our Ugandan trainees were recognized for their reporting on extractives with awards from ACME, a leader in journalistic expertise and a partner in the RWI program.

Applications for the upcoming class will be accepted through 29 February, 2012.

http://www.revenuewatch.org/news/rwi-accepting-applications-media-training-program
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International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

Ghana Oil Reporters Take Stock, with Cameroon on Their Minds

2012-01-23T12:26:00.001-08:00

ACCRA, Ghana--In a follow-up to October's media workshop, Ghanaian journalists in thesecond class in RWI's oil, gas and mining course began a 10-day session on January 16. The journalists are digging deeper into the oil and mining sectors of Ghana while building on the industry knowledge and reporting skills they picked up in the first workshop with their Ugandan classmates.
Participants began by appraising their professional growth as industry specialists. Lorrencia Adam, a reporter with Choice FM in Accra, was candid while reflecting on the support she received from facilitator Nicholas Phythian, a former Reuters news agency journalist. "Sometimes he sounds brutal," said Adam in describing her learning journey while taking advice from Phythian, who is now a trainer withThomson Reuters Foundation, RWI's international media training partner.

"He got me to rewrite one of my scripts three times and he cancelled all of them," Adam said. "But I kept working on them and I appreciated his help." The results of the process are reflected in Adam's recent reporting from Cameroon.

This workshop comes on the heels of a field trip the reporters took to Cameroon in December. Cameroon is shifting greater attention to minerals such as nickel, cobalt, iron and bauxite, because of declining oil reserves. The trip was an opportunity for the reporters to compare experiences and to sharpen their perspectives on the issues affecting Ghana. Kwami Ahiabenu, the journalists' mentor on the study tour, is based in Accra at Penplusbytes, RWI's local media training partner.

During the Cameroon trip, the Ghanaians met with journalists, civil society activists, company executives and government officials in Doula the commercial capital, in the coastal district of Kribi, and in Yaoundé the political capital.

They also toured the Logbaba gas plant owned by Rodeo Development Ltd, a subsidiary ofVictoria Oil and Gas, in which the Cameroonian government has a five per cent stake through its national oil company. The Logaba visit was a chance to learn about the trade-offs between natural gas production and the use of heavy fuel to generate electricity. While natural gas is the cheaper, more environmentally friendly choice, the plant is located in a densely populated area, which poses potentially serious threats to people and property in case of a plant accident. Jonathan Scott-Barrett, the managing director of Rodeo Development, told the reporters that the company had begun to relocate the people living near the plant, but he said government bureaucracy had slowed down the process.

Such visits are not always easy. Trainee Pascal Kudiabor of Ghana Business News said that one major challenge to covering Ghana's oil sector is the limited opportunity to observe offshore exploration on the Jubilee rig. Regulations require every visitor to the rig to undergo safety training and certification. The Regional Maritime University in Ghana provides such training, but at a cost.

RWI's next media training is scheduled for 30 January to 8 February in Kampala, Uganda, and is organized by the African Centre for Media Excellence.

http://www.revenuewatch.org/news/ghana-oil-reporters-take-stock-cameroon-their-minds

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International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

Happy Holidays

2011-12-23T07:59:00.001-08:00

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International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

Professor Alfred Opubor-Obituary / Nécrologie

2011-12-03T10:50:00.001-08:00

The ADEA Working Group on Communication for Education and Development regrets to announce the passing away of Professor Alfred Opubor. This sad event occurred in the late hours of the night of 2 December, 2011, following a brief admission at the university teaching hospital in Cotonou, Benin

Professor Alfred Opubor was one of the first generation of specialists in the field of communication as a behavioural science. He graduated from Michigan State University, in the United States, with a PhD degree in 1969. His expertise was in communication theories and message systems, and their applications in development. A former university professor and head of department of mass communication, Professor Opubor was also a researcher, government policy adviser and senior communication specialist in the United Nations system. He has been an international consultant in strategic communication and media development.

For nearly a decade (1990-1998), he served as Senior Technical Adviser in Information, Education and Communication for Reproductive Health with the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, first in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, subsequently moving to the Country Support Team, CST, in Harare, Zimbabwe, covering more than 20 countries in East, Central and West Africa.

His expertise in strategic communication has been requested by several national, regional and international organisations, especially within the United Nations system.

·        In 1999, UNFPA and UNAIDS assigned him to lead the team of consultants that prepared a report on HIV/AIDS advocacy based on field research in six African countries.

·        With the World Health Organisation Africa Regional Office (Harare, 1999), he prepared projects on the future of health communication in Africa.

·        In 2000, he led a consultation organised by FAO and ECOWAS in defining procedures, manuals and tools for the establishment of national communication policies in West Africa..

·        In 1999 he was a communication consultant to the World Bank for the urban water reform in Ghana, as well as the preparation of a development communication strategy for the Government of Ghana.

·        In 2007 he was an invited consultant/ participant at the 10th United Nations Inter-Agency Round Table on Communication for Development in Addis Ababa, whch aimed at developing a UN system-wide common approach to Communication for Development in the context of achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

As Senior Consultant to the Chairman of the African Union Commission, he proposed the conceptual framework and operational procedures for the establishment of a Pan-African radio and television network in 2005-2006.

Between 2003 and 2007, Professor Opubor served as the Coordinator of the ADEA Working Group on Communication for Education and Development (WG COMED) where he passed on his passion for communication to all those who worked with him. His contribution to ADEA was exceptional, and in particular to the setting up and consolidation of the Working Group COMED and the Africa Education Journalism Award.

Between 2008 and 2009 he designed the institutional communication strategy for the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, entitled "From a Community of States to a Community of People".

In 2009 he undertook missions on behalf of UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, to prepare analytical studies on the integration of communication for development in the CCA/UNDAF of Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania, , within the context of the UN system's "Delivering As One" reforms. He also provided capacity development for members of the UN Communication Group in these countries. He was appointed a member of the Experts' Group on Media Data and Indicators of the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, Montreal, undertaking missions in 2009 to India (March), Paris, (May) and Costa Rica( November) .

Since 2003 until his death on 2nd December 2011, he was Secretary-General of the WANAD Centre in Cotonou. He was also Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Panos Institute (West Africa), and Member of the Africa Board of Inter-Press Service, IPS, the Rome-based international news agency with regional headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Professor Opubor was 75 years old. He is survived by his spouse, Antoinette, and children and grand-children May his soul rest in peace.

A Condolence Book is opened at the WANAD Centre in Cotonou and visitors are invited to come and sign it as from Monday 5 December, 2011.

ends

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FRENCH -

Le Groupe de Travail de l'ADEA sur la Communication pour l'Education et le Développement a le regret d'annoncer le décès du Professeur Alfred Opubor. Ce triste événement est survenu dans les dernières heures de la nuit du 02 décembre 2011 après son admission à l'Hôpital universitaire de Cotonou, au Bénin.

Le Professeur Alfred Opubor faisait partie de la première génération de spécialistes dans le domaine de la communication, en tant que science du comportement. Il est diplômé de l'Université de l'Etat de Michigan, aux États-Unis, où il a obtenu le Doctorat de 3eme cycle en 1969.

Il a une expertise en théories de communication, et en systèmes de message, de même que leurs applications dans le domaine du développement. Professeur d'université et ancien chef du département de communication des médias, il a été Chercheur, Conseiller en politique gouvernementale et Spécialiste supérieur en communication dans le Système des Nations Unies. Il a été Consultant International en communication stratégique et en développement des médias.

Pendant presque une décennie (1990-1998), il a servi comme Conseiller Technique Principal en information, éducation et communication pour la santé de reproduction auprès du Fonds des Nations Unies pour la population ( FNUAP), d'abord à Abidjan, en Côte d'Ivoire, puis en suite, il a rejoint l'Équipe d'Appui aux Pays , CST, à Harare, au Zimbabwe, couvrant plus de 20 pays d'Afrique Orientale, Centrale et Occidentale.

Son expertise en communication stratégique a été sollicitée par de nombreuses organisations nationales, régionales et internationales, particulièrement au sein du Système des Nations Unies.

• En 1999, le FNUAP et l'ONUSIDA l'ont chargé pour diriger l'équipe de Consultants qui a préparé un rapport sur le plaidoyer sur le VIH / SIDA, sur la base d'une recherche de terrain menée dans six pays Africains.

• Avec le Bureau Régional Afrique de l'Organisation Mondiale de la Santé (OMS) (Harare, 1999), il a élaboré des projets sur l'avenir de la communication en matière de santé en Afrique.

• En 2000, il a conduit une consultation organisée par la FAO et la CEDEAO pour la définition de procédures, manuels et outils pour la mise en place de politiques nationales de communication en Afrique de l'Ouest.

• En 1998 il a été Consultant en Communication auprès de la Banque Mondiale pour la réforme de l'eau en milieu urbain au Ghana, ainsi que l'élaboration d'une stratégie de communication pour le développement pour le gouvernement du Ghana.

• En 2007, il était Consultant invité, participant à la 10eme Table Ronde des Nations Unies sur la Communication Inter- Agence à Addis-Abeba, et visant à développer une approche commune de communication du Système des Nations Unies pour le développement dans le contexte de la réalisation des objectifs du Millénaire pour le Développement (OMD).

En tant que Consultant Principal auprès du Président de la Commission de l'Union Africaine, il a proposé le cadre conceptuel et les procédures opérationnelles pour la création d'un réseau panafricain de radios et de télévisions en 2005-2006.

Entre 2003 et 2007, le Professeur Opubor a servi comme coordonnateur du Groupe de Travail de l'ADEA pour la Communication sur l'Education et le Développement (GT-COMED) où il a transmis sa passion pour la communication à tous ceux qui ont eu à travailler avec lui. Sa contribution à l'ADEA a été exceptionnelle, en particulier l'établissement et la consolidation du Groupe de Travail COMED et le Prix africain du journalisme.

Entre 2008 et 2009, il a conçu la stratégie de communication institutionnelle pour la Communauté économique des États d'Afrique de l'Ouest (CEDEAO) intitulée «d'une communauté d'Etats à une communauté de personnes».

En 2009, il a entrepris au nom du Siège de l'UNESCO à Paris, des missions pour faire des études analytiques sur l'intégration de la communication pour le développement dans le CCA / UNDAF du Rwanda, l'Ouganda et la Tanzanie dans le cadre des réformes «Delivering as One"du Système des Nations Unies. Il a aussi renforcé la capacité des membres du Groupe de Communication de l'ONU dans ces pays. Il a été désigné en tant que membre du Groupe des Experts sur les statistiques et indicateurs des médias, de l'Institut des Statistiques de l'UNESCO, Montréal, en effectuant en 2009, des missions en Inde (Mars), Paris, (Mai) et Costa Rica (Novembre).

Depuis 2003 jusqu'au 2 décembre 2011, date de son décès, il a été le Secrétaire Général du Centre WANAD à Cotonou. Il a été également Vice-président du Conseil d'Administration de l'Institut Panos (Afrique de l'Ouest), et membre du Conseil d'Administration Afrique de l'Inter-Press Service, IPS, Agence Internationale de Presse basée à Rome, et ayant son siège régional à Johannesburg, Afrique du Sud.

Le Professeur Opubor était âgé de 75 ans. Il a laissé derrière lui Antoinette, son épouse, des enfants et des petits-enfants. Que son âme repose en paix.

Un livre de condoléances est ouvert au Centre WANAD où les uns et les autres sont invités à se manifester dès le lundi 5 décembre 2011.

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International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

Media Training Expands to Kumasi, Ghana

2011-12-02T08:59:00.001-08:00

In the first year of RWI's oil, gas and mining media training program, Revenue Watch and Ghana program partner Penplusbytes have focused mainly on journalists and media organizations working in the capital city, Accra. On 23 November, Penplusbytes introduced the program to Ghana's "second city," Kumasi, in the gold-rich Ashanti region.

During a launch meeting with 23 regional editors, reporters and correspondents, Nana Yaw Osei, president of the Ashanti chapter of the Ghana Journalists Association, said the level of oil and gas reporting in the area is low. "The association is excited to have this unique opportunity to discuss and share ideas about how to improve on the quality and quantity of oil and gas reporting from the region," he said.

In a keynote address, Emmanuel Kuyole, the RWI Africa regional coordinator, appealed to the journalists at the meeting to educate themselves on oil and gas issues. In doing so, he advised, they will learn to effectively "question government officials on some key revenue figures currently being published by the Ministry of Finance."

Dr. Stephen Donyinah, a chemical and petroleum engineer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, explained some technical oil and gas issues that journalists must understand.

The launch included outreach visits to various Kumasi media houses so Penplusbytes could explain the objectives of RWI's media training program to journalists based in central Ghana.

http://www.revenuewatch.org/news/media-training-expands-kumasi-ghana

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International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

Penplusbytes Launches Oil & Gas Project in Kumasi

2011-11-23T07:54:00.001-08:00

Penplusbytes Launches Oil & Gas Project in Kumasi

Revenue Watch Institute in conjunction with The International Institute for ICT Journalism (Penplusbytes) today launched the "Strengthening Media Oversight of the Extractive Sectors Pilot Program" in Kumasi with Revenue Watch Africa Director Emmanuel Kuyole delivering the keynote.

The launch event was in two parts: a formal dinner with Editors of various media houses in Kumasi was held at the Golden Tulip Hotel and a media outreach programme with visits to various media houses in the city to introduce the programme to journalists in Kumasi and interact with the journalists on how to improve on the quality of oil and gas reporting from the region.

The "Strengthening Media Oversight of the Extractive Sectors Pilot Program" is a Revenue Watch Institute (RWI) initiative working with Penplusbytes in Ghana) and African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME) in Uganda and Thompson Reuters Foundation. The project is a media capacity-building program in Africa (focusing specifically on Ghana and Uganda). The programme hopes to more holistically and intensively support participating journalists over the long term. The ultimate goal of this program is the effective and consistent coverage by the media of extractive resources and revenues, contributing to their improved use for the public good in Africa

'Kwami Ahiabenu President of Penplusbytes said " The project is aimed at giving journalists knowledge & skills to report effectively on the oil & gas industry in particular & the extractives industry in general. He added that it is designed to give the participants a working knowledge of the Oil & Gas Industry, specific story ideas and suggestions on how to follow them up" Currently 15 journalists have been trained so far on the programme and he encouraged the editors to enlist their reporters for the next course.

For more information;

Penplusbytes:

PenPlusBytes seeks to empower the media through the use of ICTs to advance the work of journalism. It consists of a network of media organizations and journalists interested in using ICTs effectively to advance the course of journalism. www.Penplusbytes.org Read more about penplusbytes oil and gas project at www.reportingoilandgas.org

Revenue Watch Institute: The Revenue Watch Institute is a non-profit policy institute and grantmaking organization that promotes the effective, transparent and accountable management of oil, gas and mineral resources for the public good. Through capacity building, technical assistance, research and advocacy, we help countries realize the development benefits of their natural resource wealth.http://www.revenuewatch.org

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International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

One-day conference on Open Data and Data Journalism to be held in Accra, Ghana on 22 November 2011.

2011-11-22T00:42:00.000-08:00

One-day conference on Open Data and Data Journalism to be held in Accra, Ghana on 22 November 2011.

The Population Council announces a one-day conference on Open Data and Data Journalism to be held in Accra, Ghana on 22 November 2011.

This event, supported in part by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and presented in collaboration with the World Bank Institute, the African Media Initiative, and Highway Africa, will include practical, introductory sessions on open data and data journalism, with an emphasis on trends in Africa and around the globe. The program will feature a mix of keynote speakers, short talks, and facilitated roundtable discussion among participants.

The conference will include speakers from the International Center for Journalists, the World Bank, the University of Ghana, Network Computer Systems, and the African Internet Service Providers Association, as well as a webinar session featuring participants from open data initiatives in Kenya and Moldova. Individuals from civil society, the media, the private sector, academiaand students in particularare encouraged to attend!

The conference will run from 9 am to 5 pm at the Alisa Hotel in Accra. Space for the conference is limited, and the public is invited to register at the following link: http://bit.ly/GhanaRegistration">http://bit.ly/GhanaRegistration.

Participation is guaranteed only after registering and receiving confirmation from the organizers. Any individuals not registered and confirmed will be permitted to attend if seating allows.

For more information, contact Terence Balinia at mailto:atingpwa@yahoo.com">atingpwa@yahoo.com.

About the Population Council
The Population Council confronts critical health and development issuesfrom stopping the spread of HIV to improving reproductive health and ensuring that young people lead full and productive lives. Through biomedical, social science, and public health research in 50 countries, the Council works with its partners to deliver solutions that lead to more effective policies, programs, and technologies to improve lives around the world. Established in 1952 and headquartered in New York, the Council is a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization with an international board of trustees.

http://www.popcouncil.org">www.popcouncil.org

# # #

Media contact
Diane Rubino: mailto:drubino@popcouncil.org">drubino@popcouncil.org; +1 212 339 0617

Open Data Journalism Conference in Ghana

2011-11-20T23:07:00.000-08:00

The Population Council announces a one-day conference on Open Data and Data Journalism to be held in Accra, Ghana, 22 November 2011.

This event, supported in part by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and presented in collaboration with the World Bank Institute, the African Media Initiative, and Highway Africa, will include practical, introductory sessions on open data and data journalism, with an emphasis on trends in Africa and around the globe.

The program will feature a mix of keynote speakers, short talks, and facilitated roundtable discussion among participants.

The conference will include speakers from the International Center for Journalists, the World Bank, Google, the University of Ghana, Network Computer Systems, and the African Internet Service Providers Association, as well as a webinar session featuring participants from open data initiatives in Kenya and Moldova.

http://www.popcouncil.org/mediacenter/newsreleases/2011_OpenDataWorkshop.asp

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International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

Penplusbytes Serves on 2011 World Kids News Award Panel

2011-11-04T05:04:00.001-07:00

The Projects Director of the International Institute of ICT Journalism (Penplusbytes) Mr. Jerry Sam served on the jury panel which decided the winner of the 2011 World Kids News Award in Accra Ghana on the 3rd of November 2011. The theme for this year's award was 'Heroes"

The World Kids News Award forms part of the annual Kids News Network summit which brings together journalists from different parts of the world to share ideas on both serious and fun news that matters to children all over the world.

The jury chose from 7 outstanding broadcasts from Tien Muniten (Surinam), Tele Junior (Mozambique), NAPA (Peru), Zkids News (Zambia), CKN (Caribbean), Teen Voice (Indonesia) and Youth Voice (Burma).

The Jury scored the finalist on three criteria: Originality, Production quality and Relevance. At the end of the jury deliberations, NAPA (Peru) emerged the unanimous winner with their programme on child labour.

The KNN is an initiative of the Dutch media NGO Free Voice to help local journalists develop their own 'kids news' format. Kids News programs are being broadcasted in Peru, Surinam, Mozambique, Dutch Caribbean, Zambia, South Africa, Burma and Indonesia reaching an estimated 20 million viewers a week.

Uganda : Prize for best stories on oil and gas 2011

2011-11-03T10:45:00.001-07:00

WHAT? As part of efforts to strengthen media oversight of the extractive sector, the African Centre for Media Excellence (Kampala), in conjunction with Revenue Watch Institute (New York), announces the availability of an award for best reporting on oil and gas for 2011.

WHY? (A) To raise the profile for good investigative, in-depth, analytical and enterprise reporting on extractives i.e. oil and gas in Uganda.

(B) To provide incentives for individual reporting on oil and gas.

WHO? This is therefore to invite Ugandan print and electronic media reporters to submit their best stories to be considered for the award. Others may submit the stories on a reporter's behalf. The stories must have been published in 2011.

WHEN? Deadline for submission of stories is 5 p.m., 21 November 2011. The awards ceremony will take place in Kampala in the second week of December 2011.

HOW? Electronic media reporters should submit their stories in a format easiest to listen to, and view, the entries. Both electronic and print media reporters may submit hard copies, soft copies, or online links of their stories. All entries should be addressed to the Programme Associate, African Centre for Media Excellence, P.O. Box 11283, Kampala; or dropped off physically at the ACME offices at Plot 124, Nanjala Road (off Ggaba Road at Soya-Bunga), Kampala. Soft copies and/or online links should be emailed to info@acme-ug.org and copied to Programme Associate Grace Natabaalo at gnatabaalo@acme-ug.org

CRITERIA: (A) There will be 2 winners, 1 each in the electronic and print categories.

(B) A panel of 3 judges will pick the winner.

i) Originality;

ii) Enterprise and investigation;

iii) Analysis and depth;

iv) Relevance and significance; and

v) Potential to promote accountability in public policy and decision-making, and in the extractive industry.

AMOUNT: Each of the 2 winners will take home $1,500, a plaque, and a certificate.

http://www.acme-ug.org/news/item/182-prize-for-best-stories-on-oil-and-gas-2011

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International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

Second RWI Media Training Session Begins in Ghana

2011-11-02T02:09:00.000-07:00

On Monday, a group of African journalists arrived in Accra, Ghana for a 10-day Revenue Watch workshop to strengthen their knowledge and skills for reporting on oil, gas and mining.

The participants, seven Ghanaians and seven Ugandans, working for newspapers, magazines, radio and TV, are the second class in RWI's media training program. They were selected for their track record as journalists with a demonstrated interest in some aspect of oil, gas and mining.

The workshop, which runs until 26 October, was organized with local partner PenPlusBytes and offers a combination of knowledge- and skill-building sessions. "Knowledge" topics covered so far have given the journalists a stronger background in topics such as oil and gas contracts, key industry actors, the geological formation of oil and gas and community interests in mining areas. Expert lecturers also discussed topics including industry operations, accountability and the experiences of communities in oil-rich areas like the Niger Delta states and western Ghana.

The "skills" sessions so far have focused on journalists' tools of the trade, with seminars on conceiving and implementing story ideas, evidence-based reporting, handling figures effectively and investigation and analysis.

Ebow Haizel-Ferguson, an activist and social entrepreneur who runs Sigma Base Technical Institute, a training project for young people seeking to work in the oil and gas sector, spoke about the conditions in Takoradi, Ghana's oil and gas capital. He emphasized that most benefits from oil and gas would come from ancillary services, like job creation and infrastructure, rather than from the core of the industry. He advised journalists to convey this idea so that communities can have a clearer understanding of potential benefits from allowing oil industry in.

"There is going to be a fertilizer factory that will require about 2,000 people to build," Haizel-Ferguson explained. "There is a government gas processing plant that will cost one billion U.S. dollars." Such investments, he continued, present employment and business opportunities for the locals.

Gabriel Dedu, the governance adviser at the World Bank office in Ghana, listed a number of "accountability hotspots," such as the need for publicly-agreed revenue management guidelines concerning how to spend oil revenues.

"Within the framework of the law," Dedu said, "there is a window for political decision-making." The potential for loopholes in accountability safeguards, he continued, means that journalists must be prepared to hold the government accountable if provisions in revenue management legislation are violated.

Halima Abdalla Kisule, a Ugandan journalist who won the 2010 CNN Multichoice African Journalist Awards prize for environmental reporting, is using the training course to deepen her understanding of how oil and gas extraction in Uganda will impact the environment.

"In Uganda, oil exploration in the Lake Albert area is going on in a protected area with a lot of wildlife," Kisule said. "Are we going to move all these animals to other places? How will all these hippos and elephants survive?"

Ghanaian journalist Benjamin Tetteh reflected on some of the issues that got him thinking. "The discussion about the various types of oil contracts has been my best part. It's been very exciting."

Below is a full list of RWI's new class of journalists. Check back on the media training page for story links and bios.

From Uganda:

Felix Basiime, Daily Monitor
Isaac Imaka, Daily Monitor
Mary Karugaba, New Vision
Halima Abdallah Kisule, The East African
Assad Mugenyi, The CEO Magazine
Moses Talemwa, The Observer
Coletta Wanjohi, WBS TV

From Ghana:

Lorrencia Adam, Choice FM
Edward Ameh, Net2 TV
Adams Bashiru, The Finder
Ivan Awudu Domasaa, Radio Progress
Jeorge Wilson Kingson, Businessweek Africa
Pascal Kelvin Kudiabor, Ghana Business News
Benjamin Piorgah Tetteh, Joy FM

http://www.revenuewatch.org/news/blog/rwi-2011-media-training-session-begins-ghana

International Community Media Conference - University of Ibadan, Nigeria -IF COMMUNITY MEDIA IS THE ANSWER, WHAT IS THE QUESTION?

2011-10-26T08:19:00.001-07:00

The Department of Communication and Language Arts, University of Ibadan, > Nigeria; the Institute for Media and Society (IMS), Lagos, Nigeria; the  African Languages Technology Initiative (ALT-I), Ibadan, Nigeria; and the  Nigerian Community Radio Coalition jointly invite you to an international  conference to commemorate the 75th Birthday Anniversary of Prof Alfred  Opubor, first Nigerian professor of Mass Communication.

THEME: ³IF COMMUNITY MEDIA IS THE ANSWER, WHAT IS THE QUESTION?²  Those were the words of the first Nigerian Professor of Mass Communication,
Professor Alfred Opubor, and the title of one of his most discussed articles  Though that question was raised in 2000 in a book published by UNESCO, the  issues that gave rise to it are still as urgent and improperly understood as they were then. The recent political events in the MENA (Middle East and  North Africa) region, the recent historic civilian-to-civilian transition in  Zambia, the seemingly unending failure of the big media to significantly  bring about participation and access; the recourse to neoliberal policies by African Œdemocracies¹ and the impact of that on the big media; are some of  the issues that necessitate a thorough re-examination of that decade-old  witticism. If community media is the answer, what indeed is the question?  And how is it being answered? Are there more questions than there were? What  are they?

SUB-THEMES: Paper abstracts and proposals for project demonstrations are  welcome on the following subthemes:
> ·         Community Media and new media technologies
> ·         Community media, policy and regulation
> ·         Community media, social media and social protest
> ·         Community media and empowerment/development: actual stories and  potentials
> ·         Community media and the management of conflict
> ·         Community media, community/civic engagement and democracy
> ·         Research approaches in (and to) community media
> ·         Community media and gender
> ·         Community media and popular culture
> ·         Community media and diasporas

> DATE: 27-29 March, 2012
> VENUE: Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
> TIMELINES:
> Deadline for submission of abstracts = Nov 30, 2011
> Notification of writers of successful abstracts = Dec 20, 2011
> Deadline for submission of full paper = Feb 20, 2012

FEES: heavily subsidised to cover conference materials, lunches and teas.
Academics: N5,000
International participants: $50
Graduate Students: N1,500

Undergraduate Students: Free

Abstracts or proposals for project demonstration should not exceed 300 words. Abstracts should be sent to both: opuborconference@yahoo.com and
comlangarts@gmail.com

For more information on venues, hotel accommodation, presenters and lead speakers, timetables etc, visit: http://alfredopubor.org
You can access the book in which Prof Opubor¹s Chapter (If community media is the answer...) was published here: http://www.unesco.org/webworld/publications/community_media/index.html

Ayobami Ojebode, Ph.D
Chairman, Local Organising Committee.
>

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

Penplusbytes Anniversary Boot Camp

2011-10-23T13:04:00.001-07:00

The Deputy Director/Head of ICT Division of the Information Services Department (ISD) Mr Mawutodzi Kodzo Abissath has said that the Government of Ghana portal (GOG) was initiated to provide authentic and accurate information about Ghana. The portal, he declared publishes news, develops appropriate communication strategies as well as focuses on developmental oriented news and links all Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in Ghana.

Mr Abissath further noted that the portal serves as a source of information on speeches, press releases, meet the press, it also serves as a regional page for all the ten regions and provides profiles of public officials {Ministers).

He noted that the portal is managed by the Ministry of Information and ISD.

He made these remarks at a training session for student journalists organised in collaboration with the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) and the International Institute of ICT Journalism (Penplusbytes).

The board chairman of Penplusbytes, Dr Kwabena Riverson said penplusbytes has trained over 100 journalists in various parts of Africa.

Currently Dr Riverson said penplusbytes has a network of over 700 members spread across 49 countries.

The board chairman said his organisation is conducting a number of key studies, capacity building programmes and projects which includes the institution's flagship project known as African Election Project (AEP), inaugurated in 2008.

The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) took the opportunity to launch its website at the training session. http://gjaghana.org/

The President of the GJA, Mr Ransford Tetteh, launching the website said new media journalism has become an important profession in the country and therefore appealed to journalists to report accurately on issues since it is a social media that provides service to the world.

Mr Tetteh urged journalists to guide their colleagues in their reportage to prevent fear and panic among individuals and also commemorate on the positive aspect of journalism and not only on the negative side.

Source: ISD (Benjamin Amaning & Nancy Krampah)

Trainee journalists gather for Ghana's first online journalism boot camp

2011-10-23T01:46:00.001-07:00

Future journalists will gather at the Accra International Press Centre on 21st October, 2011 for the first Boot Camp on online Journalism under the theme "Enhancing your Future as a Journalist through Online Journalism".

The Boot Camp is aimed at providing learning and knowledge exchange opportunities in online journalism topics such as: online News Publishing and Online tools for gathering news, revenue models for online news, modern trends in broadcast technologies and social media and journalism.

The International Institute for ICT Journalism (Penplusbytes) working with Ghana Journalists Association(GJA) is organizing this boot camp with support from Raycom Technologies and Main One Cable.

The highlight of the event will be the launch of Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Social networking platform www.gjaghana.org. The platform is intended to provide members of the association with opportunities to effectively explore the inherent benefits of social networking tools as they interact and connect with the general public. It has become necessary that today's journalists harness the presence of these social network tools in the creation and dissemination of news content. According to Mr. Bright Blewu, Secretary-General of Ghana Journalists Association "the face of journalism is changing rapidly due to the advent of new technologies bringing with it challenges and opportunities and as an association we are committed to support our members to take advantage of new media in order for them to serve their audiences better while at the same time maintaining the highest professional ethics."

The one-day media boot camp, will offer a practical, in-depth and hands-on application of new media in the newsroom and forms part of Penplusbytes 10th anniversary celebrations. Kwami Ahiabenu, II President of Penplusbytes noted that, "As we celebrate 10 years of empowering the media through the use of ICTs to advance quality journalism we are excited to provide a unique opportunity to future journalists to help them navigate the new media world as they grow as journalists in our new information age".

Other presenters at the boot camp will include; Isaac Yeboah of myjoyonline.com Chris Donkor of Dot house, Kent Mensah of Citifmonline, Nana Kwabena of Edge cube and Prince Asare of Viasat 1. The rest are Alex Adjei Bram of SMSGH, John Totoe of Mobile Content, Isaac Maafo of Bulksmsghana, Kofi Amamoo of Expresso, Charity Donkor of MTN and Prof Linus Abraham (Rector) of NAFTI

Participating schools will include the School of Communication Studies, African University College of Communication, Ghana Institute of Journalism, Christian Service University, Kumasi, NAFTI and Jayee College.

http://opinion.myjoyonline.com/pages/pressrelease/201110/75126.php

Students journalists schooled in ICT journalism

2011-10-23T01:19:00.001-07:00

The International Institute for ICT Journalism in collaboration with (Penplusbytes) The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has organised a boot camp for student journalists across the country to make them more innovative in the profession.

The one day booth camp was to provide the students with learning skills and exchange opportunities in online journalism topics such as Online News Publishing and Online tools for gathering news.

The camp which was on the theme, "Enhancing your Future as a Journalist through Online Journalism", attracted student journalists from five journalism training institutions in the country.

The schools which were represented were; the Ghana Institute of Journalism, African University College of Communication (AUCC), Jayee University College, , School of Communication Studies, the National Films and Television Institute (NAFTI) and the Christian Service University College, which is based in Kumasi.

Speaking at the launch of the programme on Friday, Mr Bright Blewu, GJA General-Secretary, noted that the ICT camp would also be used to educate the participants on revenue models for online news, modern trends in broadcast technologies and social media and journalism.

"It has become necessary that today's journalists harness the presence of these social network tools in the creation and dissemination of news content".

He pledged GJA's commitment towards supporting its members to take advantage of new media to serve their audience even better while respecting the code of ethics and maintaining the highest professional standards.

The Association also used the occasion to launch a social platform www.gjaghana.org intended to provide its members with opportunities to effectively explore the benefits of social networking tools as they interact and connect with the general public.

"The face of journalism is changing rapidly due to the advent of new technologies which have brought in their wake both challenges and opportunities", he added.

Dr Kwabena Riverson, Penplusbyte Board Chairman, noted that the training also formed part of Penplusbyte's 10th anniversary and cited essay competitions for journalists in Africa and training packages for media houses as some of the activities earmarked for the celebration.

"The areas that we will be covering at this boot camp forms part of our objective to provide exemplary leadership in ICT training".

He noted that so far Penyplusbyte had trained over 100 journalists from various parts of Africa and across the globe in cutting edge new media technologies and contemporary ICT issues.

Dr Riverson said Penplusbyte had initiated a project dubbed: "Reporting on Oil and Gas", to educate journalists on the intricacies of the oil and gas sector.

Source: GNA

LIVE : Follow online journalism boot camp for future journalists

2011-10-21T03:42:00.001-07:00

Future Journalists gather for Ghana's first online journalism boot camp Future journalists will gather at the Accra International Press Centre on 21st October, 2011 for the first Boot Camp on online Journalism under the theme "Enhancing your Future as a Journalist through Online Journalism"
FOLLOW ONLINE LIVE

type this address

http://196.29.230.139/control/userimage.html

user name : bootcamp
password : bootcamp

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

Future Journalists gather for Ghana's first online journalism boot camp

2011-10-17T03:44:00.000-07:00

Keynote address for the occasion will be delivered by Ethan Zuckerman, Director of the MIT Center for Civic Media, USA and board member of Penplusbytes and Dr. Kwabena Riverson, board chair of Penplusbytes, will deliver welcome address with Kenneth Ashigbey managing Director of Daily Graphic Company serving as chair for this important boot camp.

The Boot Camp is aimed at providing learning and knowledge exchange opportunities in online journalism topics such as. ; online News Publishing and Online tools for gathering news, revenue models for online news, modern trends in broadcast technologies and social media and journalism.

The International Institute for ICT Journalism (Penplusbytes) working with Ghana Journalists Association(GJA) is organizing this boot camp with support from Raycom Technologies, IPMC and Main One Cable.

The highlight of the event will be the launch of Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Social networking platform www.gjaghana.org. The platform is intended to provide members of the association with opportunities to effectively explore the inherent benefits of social networking tools as they interact and connect with the general public. It has become necessary that today's journalists harness the presence of these social network tools in the creation and dissemination of news content. According to Mr. Bright Blewu, Secretary-General of Ghana Journalists Association "the face of journalism is changing rapidly due to the advent of new technologies bringing with it challenges and opportunities and as an association we are committed to support our members to take advantage of new media in order for them to serve their audiences better while at the same time maintaining the highest professional ethics."

The one-day media boot camp, will offer a practical, in-depth and hands-on application of new media in the newsroom and forms part of Penplusbytes 10th anniversary celebrations. Kwami Ahiabenu, II President of Penplusbytes noted that, "As we celebrate 10 years of empowering the media through the use of ICTs to advance quality journalism we are excited to provide a unique opportunity to future journalists to help them navigate the new media world as they grow as journalists in our new information age".

Other presenters at the boot camp will include; Isaac Yeboah of myjoyonline.com Chris Donkor of Dot house, Kent Mensah of Citifmonline, Nana Kwabena of Edge cube and Prince Asare of Viasat 1.The rest are Alex Adjei Bram of SMSGH, John Totoe of Mobile Content, Isaac Maafo of Bulksmsghana, Kofi Amamoo of Expresso, Charity Donkor of MTN and Prof Linus Abraham (Rector) of NAFTI

Participating schools will include, African University College of Communication, Ghana Institute of Journalism, School of Communication Studies, Christian Service University, Kumasi, NAFTI and Jayee College.

Editor's Note

Penplusbytes

International Institute of ICT Journalism (Penplusbytes) is an organization that seeks to empower the media through the use of ICTs to advance quality journalism. It consists of a network of media organizations and journalists interested in using ICTs effectively to advance the course of journalism. We have trained over 500 journalists from various parts of Africa and across the globe in cutting edge new media technologies and contemporary ICT issues.

GJA

Created in 1984, the Ghana Journalists Association is a professional association for Ghanaian journalists. The Association's purpose is to improve the standard of professional practice in the press, encourage the growth of the mass media, and protect freedom of expression. The Association is a membership organization of journalists with a National Executive elected by the members

Technology to play a key role in the coverage of Liberia 2011 General Elections

2011-10-03T06:34:00.000-07:00

As Liberians go to the polls on 11 October 2011 to select a new president, members of senate and house of representatives, African Election Project (AEP) www.africanelections.org is providing leadership in the use of information and communication technologies(ICT) to cover this landmark elections under its Liberia Incidence Monitoring Platform" project www.myliberiawins.org.

The ICT based incidence Monitoring platform will monitor incidents of violence, irregularities and human rights abuses, spanning the period of pre-elections, during elections and post elections, thereby contributing to building peace and entrenching democracy in Liberia. Also the project is designed to facilitate the work of journalists and citizen journalists by actively using ICT tools in disseminating election information and knowledge thereby stimulating a vibrant online and offline dialogue between the media and civil society through forums on elections issues with the ultimate objective of promoting free and fair elections in Liberia.

Liberia's upcoming election has largely been viewed as a test of the willingness of Liberians to fully commit to democracy and the deepening of good governance in the country after the end of a 14 year civil war which ended in 2003.

According to African Elections Project Director, Jerry Sam, "the use of ICT during this election coverage will bring about transparency in the whole electoral process, ensure the timely release of electoral news to citizens residing in Liberia and in the Diaspora, issue alerts to the relevant institutions to prevent potential incidence of violence and to ensure credibility in the final outcome of the elections."

He added that, a modern fully equipped Call Centre is in place to enable citizens report elections violence incident in additions to SMS reporting system via short-code 2011. In order to coordinate information transmission from elections observers throughout the country, a group of field officers have been deployed to play this role. The project will also make use of social media tools such as twitter, facebook and youtube to reach out to online audience. Other tools to be deployed include cutting-edge call center software and a news database software which are designed to keep track of the elections activities as it happens.

African Elections Project in Liberian which covered the recently held Liberia referendum is coordinated by the International Institute of ICT Journalist (Penplusbytes) with strategic and financial support from Humanity United (www.humanityunited.org) working hand in hand with key partners including ushahidi Liberia and Liberia Media Centre (LMC)

Editor's note

African Elections Project (AEP) www.africanelections.org @africanelection

AEP was established in 2008 to cover elections using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) across the continent. AEP have successfully covered elections in Botswana, Namibia, Ghana, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, Mauritania, Mozambique, Malawi, Togo and Niger.

Humanity United www.humanityunited.org @HUtweets

Humanity United is a philanthropic organization committed 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.

Liberia Elections 2011 : “Because Accountability Matters”

2011-09-29T05:06:00.001-07:00

"Because Accountability Matters" is the outcome of the media monitoring component of the "Strengthened Media for Transparent Elections" project. The overall objective of the project is to support independent media coverage of the 2011 Elections. It further seeks to initiate new directions for the Liberian media in the coverage of the electoral and political processes that accord higher priority to electoral accountability, issue focused campaigns and application of ethical principles. It is being facilitated with capacity building initiatives and advocacy on electoral accountability, issue-focused election reporting and monitoring of electoral coverage by the media. It also includes the use of ICTs (new media technologies especially) in monitoring and reporting of elections. The project has also enabled LMC to provide equipment support for more than 300 Liberian journalists and about 35 community radio stations.

"Strengthened Media for Transparent Elections" was conceived against the background of the social responsibility and watch dog functions of the media through which it is expected to entrench the ideals of openness and accountability in the political and electioneering processes.
The program is jointly supported by USAID, through a grant to IREX USA; UNESCO; Denmark based International Media Support and the Africa Elections Project in Accra, Ghana.
The report aims to highlight media performance in the coverage of news, events and debates during the 2011 Liberian Elections. It is designed to stimulate performance and to provide a platform for debate on the findings.

This publication therefore encapsulates one month of monitoring in August 2011 and provides summaries of areas requiring improvement by various media outlets. The report represents the first in a series, which continues till December 2011 and would culminate into the production of a comprehensive documentation on the media role during the 2011 electoral cycle.

LMC hopes the assessment will achieve the intended purpose of encouraging the media to provide appropriate professional response and add value to collective efforts for free, fair and transparent elections devoid of violence. The report is however based on the monitoring of the radio and newspapers during the period. The second report to be release in October will feature television monitoring results.

METHODOLOGY AND SCOPE

While the project reviews all published dailies to document incidents of ethical transgression, only 11 newspapers and seven radio stations are closely monitored using sets of pre-set questionnaire or coding sheets. This report covers these institutions though reference is also made to some institutions outside the rigorous assessment process, especially as it pertains to grave ethical transgressions.
The newspapers were selected on the basis of their regularity prior to the monitoring. As a result, most of the papers selected are dailies. Seven radio stations were selected on the basis of their programming, reach, and relative consistency on the air.

For radio, a total of 63 hours of radio time were recorded and evaluated, using a code frame that contained 141 semi-structured questions for radio and 154 semi-structured questions for newspaper. The report focused on a number of indicators ranging from coverage of issues, parties and candidates, space and airtime distribution and distribution of advertisement. A reflection of the coverage across the various county and sources that generated the news was also assessed. Media biases, content quality, partisan reporting, gender and conflict sensitive reporting were amongst the indicators assessed.

Processing of the data begins with monitors, who report their daily code frames to a supervisor, who in turn forward his report to the Project Consultant. The Consultant verifies the coding of each newspaper and radio station before the data is entered in the computer –based data processing system. The computer generated results are then placed within an analysis chart and quantitative reports are generated together with qualitative analysis generated separately by monitors.

OVERVIEW RESULTS AND KEY FINDINGS
The Chart below shows the percentage of issues that were reported as news by the radio stations during the period

In general, the outcome of the monitoring exercise indicates the Liberian media's robust engagement with the electoral processes as citizens prepare for the first election to be conducted by post-war democratically elected government.

A major indication of this was the amount of space and time allotted by the newspapers and radio stations to the coverage of the pre-election referendum that was then pending. Although, it meant that other developmental issues were relegated to the background, it nonetheless showed that the media was paying a deserved attention to a process whose outcome might have significant effect on the actual elections. In this regard, the court actions that have followed the result of the referendum could be seen as vindicating the stance of the media on this particular issue.

The result also shows that during the period under review, the media focused on the National Electoral Commission (NEC), being the all-important umpire whose deeds or misdeeds could have profound effect on the credibility of the elections. Understandably, NEC featured very well in the referendum related stories as it was also its responsibility to conduct it. In all instances during the monitoring exercise, NEC and the referendum got prominent mention in terms of placement of the stories. For example, in the case of the newspapers, 48% of elections related stories dealing with the activities of NEC and the referendum appeared as front page lead or sub leads. Among the highlighted issues in the stories were the registration process, opinions of the political parties and candidates whether the referendum was desirable or not with some actually advocating the boycott of the process.

Similarly, 36.1% of the 129 monitored programs of the radio stations centered on the referendum. These were in the form of open discussions of issues relating to the referendum such as the sensitization campaigns and the views of the opposition political parties. The observed weakness is the poor attention to gender in the referendum and election related stories as only two stations, UNMIL and Truth FM, featured gender related debates.

More welcoming however is the prominent featuring of news from the campaign rallies (20%) and news specific to the political parties (15.6%) by the radio stations which would suggest on face value, that the radio stations intended to help the electorates with the information that could aid their choice of Parties and candidates. Unfortunately, this intent might not have been fully realized as the news and programs were poor in content when it comes to the agenda and policies of the political parties. It should be worrisome that less than 2% of the issues covered dealt with health, business and development policies.

The monitoring report also indicates that the radio stations have succeeded more than the newspapers, in engendering public participation in the political discourse. Many callers and participants in various radio programs have been quite vocal and eloquent on questioning candidates on the issues of concern to them. Overall, the coverage of issues by the broadcast media was much better as influenced by the audience contribution. Although the newspapers do not have such advantage, the creative use of the new and social media could be a way of increasing their engagement with the public on the electioneering.

Another noticeable feature of the report is the skewed coverage of the political parties with the data gathered from the monitoring period showing that the newspapers generally seem to build stories around four of the over twenty nine registered political parties contending for power. If this trend continues, the underreported parties might allege that they are being marginalized by the media. The four parties that have been given favorable coverage are the ruling Unity Party, the CDC, the LP and NDC. Meanwhile the nature of the stories reported by the media on the leading parties also raises some questions. For example, whereas over 50% of the news stories on CDC centered on internal political wrangling especially as emanating from the party's convention, the ruling Unity Party received more favorable coverage of its progress, programs, events and activities.

For a country divided into counties populated by diverse peoples, attention to diversity is an important focus of the monitoring exercise. Here the newspapers did not put up an impressive performance to the extent that about 86% of newspapers election related stories originated from Montserrado. In contrast, Nimba County with almost half a million people out of the 3.5 million Liberian population had less than 7% mention. Other Counties even fared worse.

The newspapers might feel justified not only because they are based in Monrovia, the capital but also because the Montserrado as a whole county has the largest population compared with others. But the newspapers should have put into consideration that fact that the forthcoming elections are national in character; across all the counties, the president, the senators and the representatives will be voted for and elected.

Overall, the radio reports fared only marginally better than the newspapers as they too had 83.6% of stories coming from Montserrado, the seat of government. Bong and Nimba Counties followed with 2.8% and 2.5% respectively. However the radio stations covered more counties. ELBC reports covered nine of the fifteen counties; Truth FM, eight; UNMIL Radio, seven; LWDR, four and Radio Veritas, SKY FM and LUX FM three counties each.

The diversity performance was better in giving space and voice to non-political actors whose objective opinions help in shaping issue-focused campaigns. Both the newspapers and radio stations featured significantly the civil society, foreign missions and youth as well as women groups.
The effect of advertising on the reporting of the elections was another area of importance examined by the monitoring to determine if it accounted for favorable and non-favorable coverage of the political parties. UP had 88% of political party adverts in "The News" newspaper and received favorable coverage with a story on the president's presence at a campaign rally sensationally titled "Ellen Rocks" in the August 8 edition. CDC did not have ads in the newspaper. On July 28 it ran a story titled "Tubman a failed UN Diplomat" that was more opinionated than factual.

Finally, on a more positive note, the fact of government ownership seems not to have affected ELBC during the period in question. It had more balanced stories than the private stations. Forty two of its 65 elections news stories fell into the balanced category whereas the privately owned Sky FM had 19; Radio Veritas, 17; Truth FM, 15; LWDR, 6 and Lux FM, 7. UNMIL had just two balanced election news stories, with no balanced reports as most of their stories were not applicable.

CONCLUSION

As seen from the findings, the media faces huge challenges running into a crucial two weeks period especially on account of recent performance from some media organizations. The temptation to report issues along partisan lines will also exist but mustering the professional will and judgment to resist these temptations and stay above the fray will contribute immensely in determining the peaceful outcome of the electoral process. To achieve this goal, journalists must remain non-partisan even if they are in the employ of media owners with partisan agenda. Ensuring that news and information dissemination remain conflict sensitive is an obligation not an option and journalists should be reminded that this obligation is inextricably linked with a violent free and peaceful elections. As polling day looms, the media is encouraged to provide a balanced perspective on the candidates' platform, track record and performance. Giving equal space and airtime in a commercially driven period can be challenging but media owners should seek to promote diversity and undue monopolization of their outlet by any single political party. The media must unite to promote peace through reporting the process in an unbiased and transparent manner.

Supported by USAID through IREX, UNESCO and International Media Support.

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

Awards for Innovative New Media Journalists at Highway Africa.

2011-09-17T01:20:00.000-07:00

The 15^th Highway Africa Conference is underway at Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), South Africa. For fifteen years the Highway Africa conference has been at the centre of Africa's debates on journalism and new media. The conference has over the years become the largest annual gathering of African journalists in the world.

At this year's event, journalists who have innovatively applied the evolving New Media within the context of Africa's media will receive awards at the 11th SABC-Telekom-Highway Africa New Media Awards 2011. The awards will be in three categories, namely; individual, non-profit and corporate. Winners of the various categories will be announced during the conference at a prestigious gala which would be held on Sunday 18^th September.

This year, the prestigious Highway Africa New Media Awards celebrates ten years of existence. The awards have become one of the major highlights of recognition, reward and celebration of creativity in using new technologies in media in Africa. The wide range of organisations and individuals that have won include journalists and students, NGOs and profit making organisations. These individuals and organisations have made information and communication interventions that have been critical to the genuine free flow of information and participatory communication. When the history of new media technologies is written, the awards will have a central place as a process and event that played the role of catalyst and promoter of innovation.

Kwami Ahiabenu II, Chair of the Highway Africa conference and director of Penplusbytes had this to say " this years' award celebrate individuals and organizations who are leading the way by applying innovative ways to overcome the limitations in Africa media space while pushing for creative adaptation of global technologies in an African media context".

A new book "Media & The Africa Promise Pan Africa Media Conference 2010" is expected to be launched at Highway Africa,Jerry Sam, Penplusbytes Project Director is one of the book contributors.

Highway Africa 2011 is under the theme; ''African Media and Global Sustainability Challenge '' and will serve as a platform for African journalists and people in the media to display their sense of passion in framing issues regarding climate change, food security and global sustainability. With Marking the 20^th year of the Windhoek Declaration: Pan African Conference on Access to Information (PACAI) running co-currently at Highway Africa

Editor's note

International Institute for Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) Journalism (PenPlusBytes) established in 2001 seeks to empower the media through the use of ICTs to advance the work of journalism. It consists of a network of media organizations and journalists interested in using ICTs effectively to advance high quality journalism.

Highway Africa is a partnership between Rhodes University (School of Journalism and Media Studies) and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), with the support of several partners, development agencies and sponsors. For fourteen years the Highway Africa conference has been at the centre of Africa's debates on journalism and new media. The conference has over the years become the largest annual gathering of African journalists in the world.

First Oil and Gas reporting award at Ghana Journalists Association Annual Awards

2011-09-12T13:49:00.000-07:00

Picture: Sylvanus Nana Kumi receiving award from Mr Emmanuel Kuyole RWI, Africa Director

Sylvanus Nana Kumi of the Ghana Business Guide emerged the first recipient of the prestigious Ghana Journalists Association "Oil and Gas reporting" award 2011. The award is sponsored by Revenue Watch Institute (RWI) through its Ghanaian partner Penplusbytes (PPB) under the "Strengthening Media Oversight of the Extractive Sectors Pilot Program".

The "Strengthening Media Oversight of the Extractive Sectors Pilot Program" is being run concurrently by RWI and its partners in both Ghana and Uganda with the objective to increase the quantity and quality of coverage of extractive-related issues in the print and broadcast media in Ghana and Uganda by developing mechanisms for media capacity building on extractive governance that are scalable and sustainable in these countries. Currently fifteen (15) journalists have already been trained under the programme with a second batch of fourteen (14) journalists expected to start in October 2011.

Mr Kumi who won the award with his a story "Before Ghana Pumps Oil" received a special plague from Mr Emmanuel Kuyole RWI, Africa Director at an impressive ceremony in Accra graced by the H.E. Vice President of Ghana, Mr. John Dramani Mahama.

The GJA awards which is in its 16th year, was instituted to promote high journalistic standards, as well as motivate members who have excelled in their work. This year's award was under the theme 'Giving Impetus to Democracy and Development: The Role of Investigative Journalism'. In all 35 awards were given to journalists and some media houses, while honorary awards were conferred on five individuals.

Ghana : Best Reporter in oil and gas to receive GJA Awards

2011-09-09T10:02:00.001-07:00

Revenue Watch Institute working with Penplusbytes is sponsoring the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Award for best reporter in "Oil and Gas" category taking place on Friday September 9^th, at the Banquet Hall, State House, Accra Ghana.

This award comes at a time Ghana is producing oil and gas in commercial quantities and the media is expected to play a watch dog role over the oil revenue. The award is expected to help showcase good reporting around extractive governance and help raise the benchmark for other journalists wanting to specialize in oil and gas reporting.

The "Oil and Gas" category will recognize the journalist/journalists who have demonstrably displayed reporting techniques and skills in the wake of Ghana's oil discovery and its related business growth possibilities. The recipient of this prestigious award will be presented with a lap-top computer, a special plaque and a certificate.

This awards forms part of Revenue Watch Institute (RWI) "Strengthening Media Oversight of the Extractive Sectors Pilot Program" which is being implemented in Ghana by Penplusbytes. The program hopes to holistically and intensively support participating journalists over the long term and ultimately stimulate effective and consistent coverage by the media of extractive resources and revenues, thereby contributing to their improved use for the public good in Africa.

Kwami Ahiabenu of Penplusbytes said "good governance of oil, gas and mining (extractive) resources and revenues requires effective oversight and a knowledgeable and active media is critical to having an informed and engaged public, civil society and parliament that can hold government to account and we are working to ensure journalists are equipped to play this role effectively "

Notes to Editor

The Revenue Watch Institute is a non-profit policy institute and grantmaking organization that promotes the effective, transparent and accountable management of oil, gas and mineral resources for the public good. Through capacity building, technical assistance, research, funding and advocacy, we help countries realize the development benefits of their natural resource wealth.

International Institute for Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) Journalism (PenPlusBytes) is a registered company limited by guarantee since 18th July 2001. PenPlusBytes seeks to empower the media through the use of ICTs to advance the work of journalism. It consists of a network of media organizations and journalists interested in using ICTs effectively to advance the course of journalism.

Visit: http://www.reportingoilandgas.org/

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

How journalists are using the iPad to enhance their reporting

2011-09-08T03:56:00.001-07:00

Many journalists know what it's like to have a source freeze when you pull out a microphone or start recording them on camera. What were once colorful anecdotes can quickly turn into stilted monologues.

Now that the quality of mobile and tablet devices is so advanced, however, reporters are finding new ways to use them — and lower the barriers between themselves and their sources.

My first experience of iPad reporting was illuminating. A few days after the first generation device came out in 2010, I tried using it on a New York City subway. I wanted to do something simple like read a news app, but each time I tried, the person sitting next to me asked if she could touch the screen.

Even standing up, I'd get curious stares from around the carriage and I would put the device away. It was the first week of its much-hyped release after all, but I was feeling more self-conscious than the people on the street with a video camera in their face.

I decided to embrace the feeling for a radio story. My first piece about the iPad was a look at why it was drawing so much attention. I took the device to Washington Square Park in downtown Manhattan and brandished it without reserve. Dozens of people stopped me to ask for a look, and I interviewed them all with the iPad's voice recorder. The story's headline was apt: Can the iPad Get You a Date? (It turns out, it can.)

More than a year — and another iPad generation later — the device is far more ubiquitous. Now that more people are using smartphones and tablets, sources are less likely to freeze up when you pull out a device they're used to seeing.

I've found mobile devices to be especially effective for on-the-street interviews. When New York City brought in a new system of letter grades for restaurant health inspections last year, the WNYC newsroom asked me to get reaction from New Yorkers. Using my iPad, I asked people on the street where they liked to eat and then looked up the restaurant's inspection report online. I was able to capture their reactions when they heard the details — things like evidence of live vermin at their favorite restaurants. It was tape I could not have gotten in the moment without an iPad.

I used it in a similar way for a story about surveillance cameras in New York. It was after the attempted bombing of Times Square last year, when there was a focus on the street cameras that captured a man police were looking for. With the iPad, I interviewed people below government traffic cameras and then showed them live images from those cameras on the iPad to get their reaction.

Richard Gutjahr, a Germany-based TV, print and radio journalist, has also used mobile devices to enhance his reporting.

"I was in Tahrir Square in Egypt when the revolution broke out and they stole my camera at the checkpoint when I tried to enter Cairo," Gutjahr told me via Skype.

He didn't argue when they took the broadcast equipment, fearing they would also take his iPhone and Macbook Air. When he got to the square, he used his phone as a hot spot on the only working cellular data network available. (The government had shut down the Internet). He took pictures with his iPhone and filed stories with his Air. Far from limiting his abilities, he says it helped.

"I didn't have fancy equipment or a camera crew with me," Gutjahr said. "I was just sitting in front of the protesters, who also had their gadgets. It was the perfect camouflage."

Gutjahr said he noticed that standard TV cameras would attract raucous crowds that overshadowed the peaceful singing and quiet protests happening away from the cameras. The benefits of blending in were so great that he says he now prefers to leave his camera crew behind whenever possible. While reporting, Gutjahr uses apps like Ustream, Audioboo, Tweetdeck for iPhone,Camera+ and iMovie.

Reporter Neal Augenstein got attention earlier this year for being one of the first radio reporters to ditch his broadcast gear entirely for an iPhone and iPad. He said he can do his job as a reporter at Washington D.C.'s commercial all-news station, WTOP, just as well without it.

"After it's gone through production [and] played on the air, my sense is it's the same as audio recorded by anyone else," Augenstein told me via Skype.

Augenstein uses his iPhone to record interviews using the built-in microphone. When he's at a press conference, he uses his iPad to take notes with the phone at the podium. The devices, he said, have changed his entire workflow. He now begins a story with a tweet, takes photos and videos for the Web, and then files a radio report. Before Augenstein made the switch, he wasn't even using social media. He uses a series of apps in his reporting, including 1st Video by Vericorder, Twitter, Ustream, Skype and Camera+.

Like any profession, the quality of the journalism depends more on the journalist than on the tools. But if the tools let you capture stories you wouldn't otherwise get and expose you to platforms you wouldn't ordinarily go to, they can greatly improve the quality of the stories you tell.

http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/digital-strategies/142139/how-journalists-are-using-mobile-devices-to-enhance-their-reporting/

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International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

Boot camp : Enhancing your future as a Journalist through online Journalism

2011-09-07T00:29:00.000-07:00

Penplusbytes in collaboration with the Ghana Journalists Association will be organizing a first ever boot camp on online for future journalists at the Accra International Press Centre on 21st October 2011 with support from Main One and Raycom Technologies. The boot camp forms part of 10th anniversary of the International Institute for ICT's Journalism (Penplusbytes), which was establish on 18th July 2001 with the vision of empowering the media through the use of ICTs.
Under the theme "ENHANCING YOUR FUTURE AS A JOURNALIST THROUGH ONLINE JOURNALISM" is aimed at educating budding journalists on online reporting and related technologies and how they can take advantages of opportunities offered by online journalism as part of their career development plan. as journalists.

www.penplusbytes.org

Digital Citizens’ Indaba 2011 Theme: Freedom of Information and Digital Citizens

2011-09-04T14:03:00.001-07:00

Concept document for the Digital Citizens' Indaba 2011 Theme: Freedom of Information and Digital Citizens Date: 19 September 2011
Venue: Cape Town International Convention Centre

1. Background and objectives
The main objective of the Digital Citizens' Indaba (DCI) is to bring together digital activists, (digital) media practitioners, online industry experts and civil society representatives, as citizens who try to empower themselves and their community using new media technologies.The purpose of bringing them together is to enable this empowerment to take place through participation in debate about the state of digital media, information sharing and skills transfer using experts in the field. The DCI was established after it was recognised that – given its focus on digital media and journalism – Highway Africa (HA) could do more to encourage digital media take-up by non-journalists, thereby ensuring that citizens have a digital voice too.
Besides panel discussions the DCI also offers workshops to its participants, ensuring that each digital citizen returns home with both newly acquired knowledge and skills. DCI furthermore encourages local participation in their event. During the fifth DCI in 2010, 20 citizen journalists from Grahamstown were invited to take part and produced a poster exhibiting their work.

DCI through the years
The first DCI was held in 2006, which took place immediately before the HA Conference in Grahamstown. The second DCI in 2007 attracted high-level speakers and participants, these included Africa's foremost bloggers Ory Okolloh and Daudi Were. While the first DCI focussed on blogging in Africa, subsequent DCI 's focussed on a broader array of digital technologies used to promote citizen involvement, such as Web 2.0, mobile media and microblogs.
The third DCI in 2008 carried the theme 'Technology for the Digital Citizen', which complimented HA's overall theme of 'Citizen journalism, journalism for citizens', while maintaining its focus on citizens rather than journalists. This DCI focussed on questions of appropriate technology, and concentrated on the technologies that have proven to empower Africa's digital citizens.
The fourth DCI in 2009 focussed less on technology questions, and more on the social appropriation of technology. This event had the theme 'Digital Civil Society and Journalism in Africa', and focused on the explosion of digital media use at civil society level, and its impact on mainstream media reporting. It explored linguistic diversity in the blogosphere, gender and digital media, civil society use of mapping tools and technologies used for social change.
The fifth DCI in 2010 had the theme 'Africa's underdevelopment: Digital Citizens Speak Back', and explored the role of citizen journalists in debating the state of Africa's development, and factors impacting on underdevelopment. The DCI examined the role citizen journalists can play in making information available on natural resource exploitation on the continent, as well as in disaster situations. The development benefits of mega events such as the 2010 World Cup were also debated.

2. Theme of 2011 DCI: Freedom of Information and Digital Citizens
The past year has been a momentous one for digital citizens worldwide, with online tools like Wikileaks being used to release masses of sensitive data into the public domain. Wikileaks's release of diplomatic cables and documents on the Iraq "War on Terrorism" exposed diplomatic and military agendas in great detail, and the site has been lauded as a model for fighting corruption. At the same time the site also earned the wrath of many governments, in particular the US administration, who have accused it of threatening national security and even the lives of those named in leaked documents. Some governments have censored the site, and the owners of country level domain names for Wikileaks have been harassed. Companies such as PayPal and Amazon.com also severed ties with the site in the wake of the diplomatic cables fallout. The African continent wasn't left
untouched, though, as several African political leaders were embarrassed by the Wikileaks diplomatic revelations.
The Wikileaks saga has raised serious questions about how free the internet actually is, and what measures need to be taken to ensure online freedom of expression. A related set of questions is whether the internet is governed in a manner that ensures freedom and security for its users. Wikileaks' activities have also raised fascinating questions about the relationship of journalists to online publishers and sources, and the possibilities and pitfalls of partnerships between the two. This year's DCI will probe both questions, and their relevance for Africa.
The diplomatic cables revealed the extent of corruption in Tunisia's government, which may well have been an aggravating factor in the revolution that swept the country early in 2011. Since then, revolutions spread across North Africa and the Middle East, leading to the removal of leaders in Tunisia and Egypt. Online social networks played a key role in these revolutions. Activists used Twitter to announce protests, Facebook to organize them, YouTube to 'broadcast' them, and Flickr to document them.
At the forefront of this were tech savvy young people, who are meant to be the most advantaged and employable citizens of the information society. Yet many have found themselves relegated to the margins of this very society through unemployment. The DCI will use the revolutions to raise questions about the nature of transformational change brought about by digital (online, social and mobile) media, and how inclusive the information society actually is in Africa. The uprisings also
raised debates whether these are Facebook or Twitter led revolutions, leading to questions about the perceived versus the actual role of technology in social change. The DCI will explore these questions too.
Communications networks have been censored in an attempt to quell the protests. In the case of Egypt, the internet was shut down. In Cameroon, MTN shut down Twitter SMS after it was ordered to do so by the government. The conduct of network providers and governments has raised questions about how committed they are to the principles of freedom of information and network neutrality. In response to greater attempts to control the flow of communications, cyberactivists have also played an increasingly important role in promoting the free flow of information, defending the right to anonymous free speech: a right that is increasingly under attack in the era of greater network surveillance. With these issues in mind, the DCI will explore ways of defending digital media freedom in times of social conflict.

Some of the questions to be dealt with include the following:
• Is network neutrality a reality in Africa, and if not what needs to be done to guarantee
network neutrality?
• What are the responsibilities of network service providers to ensure the freedom and
neutrality of the internet, especially in repressive countries?
• Under what conditions, if any, should national security and personal safety trump freedom
of information?
• How central are social networking tools to the protests in Africa?
• What role can and should digital media play in Africa in facilitating access to information,
especially information on malgovernance, corruption and other abuses of power?
• How can the safety of whistleblowers be guaranteed?
• How inclusive is the African information society?
• What role can cyberactivists play, and what can they do, in promoting freedom of expression
and information?
• What kind of internet governance is needed to ensure the communications rights of its
users?
• Are online and mobile tools replacing, enriching or compromising journalism?
• Are journalists doing enough to defend digital media freedom, including the freedom of
their sources?
DCI will explore these questions through a series of panel discussions and workshops with experts,
eye-witnesses and digital citizens while at the same time ensuring there's enough time too for
knowledge and skills exchange through socializing – as citizens should.

3. Venue & Participants
This year the DCI will not take place in Grahamstown, but at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, close to Cape Town's city centre and V&A Waterfront. This was decided by HA management for logistical reasons. DCI is part of HA and agreed to, for this year only, move to Cape Town as well. Additional costs of the venue are covered by HA.
Accommodation ranges from B&B's, guest houses and hotels to backpackers. The Indaba is open to bloggers, podcasters, vodcasters, mobile reporters, citizen journalists, new media practitioners, new media students, online industry experts and civil society representatives. All participants can visit the
website (www.dcindaba.com ), follow us on Twitter (@DCIndaba) and receive our newsletters through dcindaba AT gmail.com.

4. Parallel and linked events
• Highway Africa Conference, 17 & 18 September 2011
• Pan African Conference on Access to Information in Africa (PACAIA), 19 September 2011
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International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

African Elections Project to cover Liberia 2011 Referendum

2011-08-18T06:57:00.000-07:00

Accra, Aug. 16, GNA - Staff of African Elections Project (AEP) would participate in the coverage of the Liberian Referendum scheduled for August 23.

This would be under its Liberia Elections Incidents Monitoring system project in strategic partnership with Humanity United.

This was contained in a statement issued in Monrovia on Tuesday by Mr Jeremiah Sam of Penplusbytes and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.

AEP was established in 2008 to enhance the ability of journalists and the mass media to provide more timely and relevant election information and knowledge while undertaking the monitoring of specific and important aspects of governance.

"Liberia's referendum has largely been viewed as a giant stride in the country's democracy since the end of the civil war in 2003. It entails a "yes" or "no", to the four proposed constitutional amendments, including whether the country should hold its general elections in October or November during its elections year," the statement added.

The statement said AEP was working with the Liberia Media Centre, Ushahidi Liberia and other partners to provide comprehensive report from all the 4,457 polling stations across the 1,780 voting centres via an SMS system, a call centre and the use of social media tools such as Twitter, Face Book and You Tube.

It pointed out that in a related pre-referendum activity, AEP had organised a workshop for Liberian journalists, call centre agents and field officers on how to access the use of ICT and the social media in covering elections and ensuring transparency in the whole process.

"We are pleased and proud to be part of such a broad-based effort aimed at entrenching democracy in Liberia. AEP will cover this referendum until the final result are declared and provide a non-partisan coverage while chronicling any referendum-related violence incidence or irregularities", said Mr Kwami Ahiabenu II, African Elections Project Team Leader, when addressing the opening session of the workshop.

"After covering elections in 10 countries, AEP is no doubt a ground breaking project providing an important contributory role in deepening democracy and supporting the creation of open societies through capacity building for the media and other key stakeholders.

"At the same time, it provides a unique online elections information and knowledge platform that will eventually provide transparent access to the electoral processes across the continent," Mr Ahiabenu added.

GNA

Deadline extended to 22 August 2011: SABC-Telkom-HA New Media Awards – APPLY NOW!

2011-08-10T00:36:00.000-07:00

The 11th SABC-Telkom-Highway Africa Conference will for the first time be experienced outside of Grahamstown, at the Cape Town International Conference Centre.

"Highway Africa recognizes and celebrates the role that African journalists continue to play in telling the story of the continent in all its complexity. It is a story of hope and despair, of war and peace, of building and destroying. The women and men who dedicate their lives to bring that story, deserve to be celebrated. At the Highway Africa Conference we do exactly that," said Chris Kabwato, Highway Africa Director.

Criteria for the SABC-Telkom-Highway Africa New Media Awards 2011

Judges are looking for innovative applications of new media in African journalism and the media. Awards are given in three categories: 1) Individual; 2) Non-profit; and 3) Corporate.

Individual and Non-profit category: Recognition will be given to persons or organisations who find INNOVATIVE ways to overcome the limitations of the existing African infrastructure. Corporate category: Judges will be looking for creative adaptation of global technologies in an African media context. Other broad criterion is the use of new media to benefit press freedom in Africa and encourage social empowerment in African communities.

Prizes

Winners of these awards will receive a coveted trophy, and prizes at the prestigious gala event sponsored by Telkom, on Sunday 18 September, in Cape Town, during the 15th Highway Africa Conference.

Enter or submit a nomination by downloading an application form:

Click here to download the Call for Entries in English

Click here to download the Call for Entries in French

Click here to download the Application Form

Email completed forms to awards@highwayafrica.com. Applications close Monday 22 August 2011, 16.30 South Africa time.

Enquiries:
For more information please contact Bronwyn Jacobs (b.jacobs@ru.ac.za ); +2746 603 7186.

Call for articles - Issue on climate change

2011-08-03T09:43:00.001-07:00

"

The Commission of the African Union, in preparation for the COP 17 in Durban, South Africa, solicits articles for publication to be exhibited in the African Pavilion in the African Union Policy Journal: ECOLOGUE. Papers are particularly solicited from researchers, scholars, teachers, but anyone with relevant experience and credentials in the topic area is invited to submit their work.

The articles should be between 15 – 20 pages maximum in English or French. Successful papers will be remunerated at a flat rate of US $ 500.00 and submitted before 31 August 2011.

Background

The 17^th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 7^th Session of the Meeting of the Parties (CMP7) to the Kyoto Protocol (KP) will take place in Durban, South Africa, between 28 November and 09 December 2011. The COP17-CMP7 constitutes a very important milestone for climate change negotiations, as it is nearly 20 years since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the "Earth Summit" was held in, Rio de Janeiro, from 3^rd to 14^th June 1992, in which climate change negotiations were kick started with the UNFCCC being opened for signing by UN member states.

The COP17-CMP7 comes to Africa at a time when there is much awareness across the continent about the impact of climate change on Africa, supported by an expanding body of research and adaptation and mitigation practices on the ground. The conference therefore offers a real opportunity to showcase some of the continent's important initiatives and activities, bring in knowledge about climate change and development from wide-ranging actors, and ensure that Africa's development and climate change concerns are at the forefront of the discussions during the COP17-CMP7.

In essence, Africa needs to seize this moment and capitalize on the opportunities from the Durban climate talks, and to mark this occasion, Africa will have its first ever dedicated discussion and exhibition area at a Conference of the Parties venue called the "Africa Pavilion" as decided by the Africa Union Assembly.

African Union Commission seizes this opportunity to launch ECOLOGUE a new policy journal dedicated to climate change issues.

Scope of the thematic issue

Authors are invited to address climate change issues and their implications on Africa, including an analysis of sectoral climate change impacts (in agriculture, energy, transport, etc.). The thematic areas are identified below for ease of reference. Authors are encouraged to bring in new perspectives, reflect on regional experiences and best practices, and propose potential solutions, options, and the way forward in addressing the challenges of climate change on natural resources (forestry, fisheries, water, agriculture, pasture lands). The aim is to clearly frame the issues in a way that would assist Member States and policymakers to generate worthwhile programs and activities in their bid to confront the menace of climate change.

The themes below have been identified to guide the scope of the articles. These themes are only indicative. Authors are also encouraged to developed their own questions and describe innovative approaches on climate change.

1. UNDERSTANDING CLIMATE CHANGE

2. ADAPTATION INITIATIVES TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN AFRICA

3. AFRICAN COUNTRIES AND THE CARBON MARKET

4. CLIMATE-RELATED INSECURITY AND CONFLICTS IN AFRICA

5. CLIMATE CHANGE, FOOD SECURITY, AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY IN AFRICA

6. THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN AFRICA REGIONAL ECONOMICS COMMUNITIES

7. FINANCING CLIMATE CHANGE IN AFRICA

8. ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE IN AFRICA

9. CLIMATE CHANGE AND ECONOMIC POLICY IN AFRICA

10. RELEVANCE AND SURVIVAL: ADAPTATION AND MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR AFRICA

11. REDD+ PERSPECTIVES: AN ANALYTICAL APPROACH

12. CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY

13. EARTH OBSERVATION DATA AND CLIMATE CHANGE PLANNING

14. CLIMATE CHANGE, EXTREME WEATHER PATTERNS, AND DISASTERS IN AFRICA

15. CLIMATE CHANGE AND AGRICULTURAL INNOVATIONS IN AFRICA

16. CLIMATE CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENTAL PROSPECTS IN AFRICA

17. DESERTIFICATION AND CLIMATE CHANGE

18. CLEAN DEVELOPMENT MECHANISM PROJECTS CHALLENGE IN AFRICA

19. THE SCIENCE OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND AFRICA's COMMOM POSITION

20. SECTORAL CHALLENGES POSED BY CLIMATE CHANGE

21. CLIMATE CHANGE AND LAND TENURE IN AFRICA

Author guidelines

All articles should be submitted in English or French, and will be published in their original language. Manuscripts previously published in a workshop, symposium, or conference can be submitted for consideration provided that the authors inform the editor at the time of submission.

A manuscript must include an abstract that summarizes the most important issues. (Maximum 1000 characters with spaces). Authors are encouraged to provide three or four keywords that best define their articles.

The maximum length of the submitted articles is 20 pages with spaces excluding endnotes and references. All manuscripts should contain an introduction and a conclusion.

The preferred formats are Microsoft Word (.doc, .rtf) and the text should be single-spaced and use a Times New Roman 12-point font. It is encouraged to use italics rather than underlining (except with URL addresses).

All figures and tables should be cited in the text and numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals. They should be placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end. A title explaining any abbreviation used should be provided for each figure and table.

References

Authors should provide their full name, affiliation, organisation as well as electronic mail address. All references should be cited parenthetically in the text by author and year, e.g. (FAO, 2007). An alphabetical bibliography at the end of the article is to be provided. Full bibliographical details should be given so that readers can easily find the sources they want to consult. The list of references should only include works that are cited in the text and that have been published or accepted for publication.

Example of reference for books: the author(s). year of publication. full title of book. editor/publisher, place of publication. number of pages of the book. (FAO. 2007. Good governance in land tenure and administration. FAO Land Tenure Studies No.9, Rome. 57p.)

Example of reference for articles: the author(s). year of publication. full title of article. full title of journal, volume and issue number of journal. page numbers of the article.

(FAO. 2007. Sample Article. Land Reform, Land Settlement and Co-operatives, no. 1, p. 21-30.)

Submission of articles

Should you be interested in contributing an article to the thematic issue, please send it before 31 August 2011 to:

- OgandagaG@africa-union.org / ogandiaye@hotmail.com

- M. H. Khalil Timamy TimamyK@africa-union.org or/and mailto:mhktimamy@yahoo.co.uk%20OgandagaG@africa-union.org

from: http://www.nepad.org/climatechangeandsustainabledevelopment/news/2425/call-articles-issue-climate-change

Tips for strengthening communication between reporters, developers

2011-08-01T06:21:00.000-07:00

When reporters, data geeks and coders combine forces, we can tell stories using alternative forms and dive deeper into information than we would be able to on our own.

This is hardly a new practice, but it's happening in more and more newsrooms. To best work together, it's important to understand what it takes for both reporters and developers to do their jobs. And communication is key.

Here are some tips from a data journalist on how you can help us do our job, and how we can help you in return.

Combine forces to ask the tough questions

Data journalists are reporters and can contribute to the research process across beats. Stories about politics and money are often paired with data-driven projects, but that doesn't mean that reporters and developers can't collaborate on stories about other topics.

Looking for a statistic to throw at your source? Wondering exactly how often something occurred? Is it taking you too long to extract what you need from something on the Internet? Speak to data journalists with technical skills, and they may be able to help find what you need.

When conducting interviews, start by asking your sources if they have any documents, reports or spreadsheets that might be helpful. You won't get everything this way, but you never know until you try. And if your source does give you a monster document, data journalists can often analyze it using their computer skills.

While journalism could use more numerically-based facts behind its stories, numbers are nothing on their own without context. You can use numbers to put a source's feet to the fire and get more thorough explanations. And the context you gain from talking to sources can help you understand the numbers.

Discuss projects early in the storytelling process

It's essential for reporters, developers and analysts to communicate with one another early and often. This gives developers the time they need to create frameworks for custom interactives, and it enables analysts to use the data to gain insight that can be useful to reporters as they prepare for interviews and writing.

On the presentation side, understand that it's not a solo job for anyone in the newsroom. The communication should be ongoing. The more often we check in, the easier it is to ensure that we're all on the same page and that the piece is proceeding as we all imagined it would.

Maintain realistic expectations

Understand that interactives require a certain amount of time and are far from magic. They require effort, as any good story does.

If you ask whether something is possible, chances are good the answer is yes. The challenge is how to execute it. How much time do we have? What's the most important function of an interactive (called a "feature" in the coding world) that we should spend our time on?

A developer can do an interactive map in a day or a year, but they're going to be vastly different. Assess what's acceptable and doable to eliminate nasty surprises.

To best foster collaboration in the newsroom, it's helpful to develop at least a passing knowledge of data journalism so you can ask for what you want. Asking for a "cool Census thing" is vague. To quote the fundamentals of the programming language Python, "Explicit is better than implicit."

Of course, not every newsroom has a data team. But the more data journalists your newsroom hires, the more capacity the newsroom will have. When we work together as reporters and developers, we can focus our combined efforts on creating the best products possible.

http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/digital-strategies/139525/how-to-communicate-effectively-with-your-data-team/

Countdown to close of entries: SABC - Telkom - Highway Africa New Media Awards 2011

2011-07-27T13:12:00.000-07:00

With only two more weeks left before the close of applications for the SABC-Telkom-Highway Africa

New Media Awards 2011, the countdown has begun to the event that celebrates Africa's new media

leaders.

The 11th SABC-Telkom-Highway Africa Conference will for the first time be experienced outside of

Grahamstown, at the Cape Town International Conference Centre.

"Highway Africa recognizes and celebrates the role that African journalists continue to play in telling

the story of the continent in all its complexity. It is a story of hope and despair, of war and peace, of

building and destroying. The women and men who dedicate their lives to bring that story, deserve to

be celebrated. At the Highway Africa Conference we do exactly that," said Chris Kabwato, Highway

Africa Director.

Criteria for the SABC-Telkom-Highway Africa New Media Awards 2011

Judges are looking for innovative applications of new media in African journalism and the media.

Awards are given in three categories: 1) Individual; 2) Non-profit; and 3) Corporate.

Individual and Non-profit category: Recognition will be given to persons or organisations who find

INNOVATIVE ways to overcome the limitations of the existing African infrastructure. Corporate

category: Judges will be looking for creative adaptation of global technologies in an African media

context. Other broad criterion is the use of new media to benefit press freedom in Africa and

encourage social empowerment in African communities.

Prizes

Winners of these awards will receive a coveted trophy, and prizes at the prestigious gala event

sponsored by Telkom, on Sunday 18 September, in Cape Town, during the 15th Highway Africa

Conference.

Enter or submit a nomination by downloading an application form, from www.highwayafrica.com.

Email completed form to awards@highwayafrica.com. Applications close Friday 5 August 2011,

16.30 South Africa time.

Enquiries:

For more information please contact Bronwyn Jacobs (b.jacobs@ru.ac.za ); +2746 603 7186.

Prix 2011 Nouveaux Médias SABC-Telkom-Highway Africa

2011-07-26T00:08:00.001-07:00

Appel d'inscription :

Highway Africa a le plaisir d'annoncer l'appel d'inscription aux Prix Annuels Nouveaux Médias Highway Africa. Pendant 11 ans ces

prix uniques et prestigieux dans le cadre de la profession de journalisme sur le continent, ont récompensé l'usage original, innovateur

et créatif de la technologie dans le cadre du journalisme au service de l'Afrique et ses citoyens. Les Prix ont été lancés afin d'accentuer le rôle

que les technologies digitales jouent dans le journalisme et les médias en général.

La 15ième Conférence Highway Africa 2011, qui aura lieu du 17 au 19 septembre 2011, au Centre International de Convention de la Ville du

Cap, réclame la soumission d'inscriptions/ nominations pour les Prix Nouveaux Médias SABC-Telkom- Highway Africa, dans 3 catégories:

• Individuelle – décerné à des personnes individuelles qui conoivent ou approprient de nouvelles applications abordables de technologies

de communication afin de surmonter les contraintes d'infrastructure existante et/ ou de ressources de capital.

• Non-lucrative – décerné aux usagers de technologie de média approprié pour contribuer au progrès et assister les communautés

et les personnes limitées par l'infrastructure et/ ou accès technologique.

• Entreprise – décerné aux groupes d'entreprise pour une adaptation créative et appropriée de technologies au sein du continent afin de

participer efficacement dans l'environnement plus large.

Critères essentielles de participations:

Les juges considèreront/ prendrons en compte l'usage de nouvelles technologies de média:

• Avancement de la liberté de la presse sur le continent;

• Encourager l'habilitation sociale parmi les communautés marginalisées;

• Mise en avant de l'applications innovatrice et créative de technologie globale au profit du développement général des médias du continent.

•

Conditions techniques pour toutes les inscriptions:

1. Plateforme digitale /connectée, doit être fonctionnelle et actualisée.

2. Usage créatif des composants multimédia, tels que texte, photographie, vidéo.

3. Attrait esthétique, tout en étant facile à utiliser.

4. Une plateforme digitale / sur connection devrait être régulièrement actualisée pendant la période d'août 2010 et juillet 2011.

5. La décision du juge est finale et aucune correspondance ne sera encouragée après la date de clôture lorsque les annonces seront rendues publiques.

6. Highway Africa se réserve le droit de ne décerner de prix dans aucune catégorie.

Les inscriptions doivent être faites électroniquement à awards@highwayafrica.com , en copie à b.jacobs@ru.ac.za.

La date butoire est le 5 Août 2011, 16:30 heure de l'Afrique du Sud.

Les vainqueurs seront annoncés à l'occasion du prestigieux gala des Prix Nouveaux Médias SABC-Telkom-Highway Africa dans la soirée du 18 septembre

2011, durant la conférence.

Pour plus d'information, veuillez contacter Bronwyn Jacobs (b.jacobs@ru.ac.za ).

Consultez www.highwayafrica.com pour télécharger les formulaires d'inscription.

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International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

TRAINING OPPORTUNITY IN REPORTING ON OIL, GAS AND EXTRACTIVES

2011-07-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

The Revenue Watch Institute (www.revenuewatch.org) is in the second year of an extensive media capacity building program for suitably qualified journalists in GHANA and UGANDA. The program is designed for journalists with a demonstrated interest in reporting about the extractive sectors of oil, gas, and minerals.

The Training Program

The training program consists of two residential courses. The first course will be conducted in Accra, Ghana, on October 17-26, 2011 and will bring together participants from both Uganda and Ghana. The second course will consist of two separate sessions: one for Ghanaians on January 16-25, 2012 in Accra and one for Ugandans on January 30-February 8, 2012 in Kampala. Successful candidates will be sponsored and must commit to completing all aspects of the program.

The full course will run over a period of about seven months comprising a series of learning activities and professional support to trainees individually and collectively. There are approximately 14 places available this year – seven for Ghanaians and seven for Ugandans.

The Revenue Watch Institute

The Revenue Watch Institute is a non-profit policy institute and grant-making organization that promotes accountable and effective management of oil, gas and mineral resources for the public good. Good governance of oil, gas, and mineral revenues requires an informed, responsive and dynamic media environment to provide the oversight of the process and help inform the public about the issues. This is therefore the impetus behind our training program.

The training will be delivered through a partnership of Penplusbytes in Ghana (www.reportingoilandgas.org), the African Centre for Media Excellence in Uganda (www.acme-ug.org), and Thomson Reuters Foundation (www.trust.org).

Training Approach

The training methodology will be a mixture of seminars, interviews, roundtable discussions, regular mentoring, field trips, workshops, and debates with technical experts and senior journalists from Ghana and Uganda. The training approaches will be interactive and practical with a focus on fundamental concepts, issues, and knowledge about the extractives. The training will also involve critiquing and supporting the work of the trainees as they produce stories and explore the issues related to reporting on extractives.

In addition there will be travel bursaries for motivated reporters to enable them to build on their professional development in this field and an annual prize for the best reporting on extractives.

Application Process

As this is a competitive process, places will be offered to reporters who make the strongest applications when addressing and providing the information listed below:

THREE samples of stories (could be MP3, website link, scan) on extractive industries that you have published or broadcast (clearly showing your byline where applicable and date of publication).

A short biography of no more than 200 words.

A brief statement of no more than 200 words explaining how deepening your journalistic understanding of extractives will contribute to your professional development and that of your media house.

A pitch for a story on extractives you would like to pursue: Who would you interview and why? What would be the angle and focus of the story? How does the story relate to your audience?

Contact information for your editor or editorial supervisor – telephone and email.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: AUGUST 15, 2011(new deadline)

HOW TO APPLY:

Submit your application material by email to: glugalambi@revenuewatch.org

Ghanaians should copy: training@penplusbytes.org

Ugandans should copy: bernard.tabaire@googlemail.com

Press Release – Official Opening of Telkom-Highway Africa Building

2011-07-22T02:07:00.001-07:00

Celebrating a valuable contribution to African journalism, Rhodes University will officially open the new Telkom-Highway Africa Building at a ceremony at the campus on Friday 29 July.

Guests of honour at the commemorative occasion include Telkom Group Executive: Group Communication and Brand, Ms Brenda Kali, and Rhodes University Vice Chancellor, Dr Saleem Badat.

The Telkom-Highway Africa Building is part of Telkom's contribution to the success of the annual Highway Africa conference. The conference celebrates its 15th anniversary this year, and will continue its focus on the impact of the Internet on journalism and media across Africa.

Started in 1997, the programme has since grown into a multi-faceted project with research, training and news activities added on.

"Telkom is the founding partner of Highway Africa and it is especially significant that the company that first saw the potential of what would become Africa's largest annual gathering of journalists should also be the first to recognise that the project had grown and needed a permanent home," said Chris Kabwato, the Highway Africa director.

Ms Kali said that Telkom's sponsorship of Highway Africa was testament to the belief that journalism and media need to be strengthened in order to create stable and prosperous societies.

"It is therefore an honour to contribute to the School of Journalism and Media Studies' ongoing pursuit of excellence," she said.

---------------

ABOUT TELKOM:

Telkom is a leading communications services provider in South Africa and on the African continent. We had consolidated normalised operating revenue from continuing operations of R33.4 billion and normalised profit for the year from continuing operations of R2.4 billion for the year ended 31 March 2011. Total assets from continuing operations amounted to R54.3 billion and equity attributable to the owners of Telkom to R29.6 billion as of 31 March

2011.

About Highway Africa

Highway Africa is a flagship programme of Rhodes University. For 15 years the programme has hosted Africa's largest annual gathering of journalists and is focused on the interface of journalism, media and digital technologies (internet and mobile).

Media Inquiries: Chris Kabwato, Mobile: +27 82 582 9534, e-mail: c.kabwato@ru.ac.za

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International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

Penplusbytes marks 10 years of inspiring ICT Journalism today

2011-07-18T00:54:00.001-07:00

The International Institute for ICT Journalism (Penplusbytes) turns 10 today - 18th July 2011. Over the past 10 years Penplusbytes has worked to achieve its vision of Driving Excellence in ICT Journalism.

Penplusbytes is posed to achieve its mission statement in the years to come

"To be the leader for developing ICT Journalism by:

a) Empowering & Building the capacity of the media through cutting edge ICT skills
b) Developing a vibrant research capability in ICT Journalism to support the Media and other Stakeholders
c) Building a vibrant community of ICT journalists around the world.
d) Advocating for media rights in the Information society.

African Elections Project www.africanelections.org
Elections in Africa twitter www.twitter.com/africanelection
Reporting Oil and Gas project http://reportingoilandgas.org/
PenPlusBytes Website www.penplusbytes.org
Follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/penplusbytes
Join our social networking space at http://penplusybytes.ning.com/
Interact online via discussion space : http://dgroups.org/groups/penplusbytes
Our video Channel : http://www.youtube.com/penplusbytes
New media online project http://newmediaskool.org/
Design Communication Course http://designcomm.penplusbytes.org/
Online Global Course in ICT Journalism http://www.penplusbytes.org/ppb_detail.cfm?prodcatID=3&tblNewsCatID=15&tblNewsID=130
Blogging at http://www.penplusbytes.blogspot.com/

Watch out for anniversary programs

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International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

MISA response to Attempts to Muzzle Private Media in Botswana

2011-07-15T05:23:00.001-07:00

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Botswana wishes to
express its concern over the growing and supposed building of a case
against the private media that has been taunted in the State Media
recently, under the title of rebuttals, on numerous occasions such as
the following dates: 03/06/2011, 09/06/2011, 21/06/2011, 23/06/2011
and on the 30th of June this year. The government, through its State
Media, seems to be attempting to build a case to justify an eventual
gagging of the Private Media. The rebuttals clearly seek to discredit
the private media, while failing to show what wrong exactly, they have
committed. MISA Botswana views this as an attempt at building a case
for a crackdown on the Private Media.

MISA Botswana would like to reaffirm the indispensable and crucial
role of media in a democratic dispensation where freedom of expression
and ideas are allowed to flow without state interference. This role is
the responsibility of not only the private media but the state media
as well, which, unfortunately of late, has abdicated its role of the
dissemination of balanced information. A democratic society through
its media houses should allow its citizens, the opportunity to share
different ideas and views. Without such responsible media where free
flow of expression is allowed, then Botswana's image as a democratic
state will become a thing of the past. The use of State Media to
prevent such expression through other media cannot be condoned and
should not be accepted as justifiable.

The Media in this country, especially the private media, operates
under a very irksome and difficult environment without access to
information legislation which MISA Botswana has long called for
without success. It then follows that media struggle to acquire
information for their daily operation in the first place and are later
accused of not reporting accurately.

Additionally, MISA has also long called for a three tier principle of
broadcasting environment; where Community, Private and Public (and not
government) broadcasting obtain. Instead of acceding to the above
proposals which would broaden the broadcasting space and create an
enabling environment for our media, the government has opted to enact
the controversial Media Practitioners Act- a regressive piece of
legislation which MISA will continue to fight for it to be repealed.

The current attitude by those in power, "of shooting the messenger" as
the saying goes, cannot be allowed to go on indefinitely. MISA
Botswana therefore wishes to call on all stakeholders to allow the
free flow of ideas and expression to become a norm in the new Botswana
towards Vision 2016, whose tenants also, call for a freedom of
Information Act. It is in this light that, MISA Botswana wishes to
raise alarm over the current unending use of the State Media to issue
rebuttals by government without truly challenging the facts reported
by the private media. This concern is premised on the fear that what
is happening in the State Media is a bad practice that could end up
disabling the media in general, in its execution of its core mandate,
of informing the nation.

________________
Modise Maphanyane
MISA Botswana Chairperson

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International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

AP updates its social media guidelines for staff

2011-07-14T06:03:00.001-07:00

Associate Press (AP) has released an update to its social media guidelines for its staff

To read the guidelines visit http://www.ap.org/pages/about/pressreleases/documents/socialmediaguidelinesforapstaff2011.pdf

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International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

Highway Africa New Media Awards 2011(Closing date for entries is August 2011, 16:30 South African time)

2011-07-12T01:07:00.001-07:00

Rhodes University's Highway Africa programme and its partners are pleased to announce the opening of the nomination process for the prestigious Highway Africa New Media Awards.

For 11 years these unique awards within the profession of journalism on the continent, have been rewarding pioneering, innovative and creative use of technology in journalism and the media. The Awards were established reward and recognise African innovation in the area of digital media and to highlight the role that digital technologies play in journalism and the media at large.

The Highway Africa New Media Awards are in three categories:

Individual – awarded to individual persons who design or appropriate new affordable applications of communication technologies to overcome the limitations of existing infrastructure and / or capital resources.

Not – for – profit – awarded to users of appropriate media technology to advance and assist communities and persons limited by infrastructure and / or technological access.

Corporate – awarded to corporate groups for creative and appropriate adaptation of technologies within the continent to complete effectively in the wider environment.

Submissions can be made electronically to awards@highwayafrica.com copied to m.letlhaku@ru.ac.za and b.jacobs@ru.ac.za.

The closing date for entries is August 2011, 16:30 South African time.

The winners will be announced at the prestigious SABC-Telkom-Highway Africa New Media Awards gala dinner on the evening of 18 September 2011 during the 15th edition of the Highway Africa Conference.

For more information contact Bronwyn Jacobs (b.jacobs@ru.ac.za ) or Visit www.highwayafrica.com to download entry forms.

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International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

Digital journalism, media’s new cash cow

2011-06-28T02:01:00.001-07:00

New York Times Company's financial report for 2010 shows that total digital revenues increased 15 percent to $387 million in 2010 compared with 2009, and accounted for over 16 percent of overall revenue. SIAKA MOMOH, Industry Editor, relieves his New York experience

Media business is taking a new shape globally. Digital communication is the in-thing now, and media entrepreneurs with foresight are not sleeping.

Good enough, Nigerian print media is imbibing the culture too. Newspapers across the country have online editions that operate side by side with the hard copy versions.

Owners of these media organisations do this in anticipation of the waxing strength of digital communication, especially to conquer the fear that its full emergence would kill the traditional media.

But a note of warning that should go to our traditional media is that they must move from showing superficial concern for the drive towards adopting digital communication to adopting it robustly.

It should not stop at just launching a website for online edition; because there is more to it than this. There is the issue of training back up – capacity building; there is the issue of robustness of content, as well as freshness of content, etc.

This is what obtains outside our shores. The United States is a good example. The New York Times has a full-fledged department for online journalism. It has Tom Torok, project editor, computer-assisted reporting, and Andrew W. Lehren, reporter, of this unit, doing it with panache.

These two, explained the operations of their unit to visiting Citi-Journalistic Excellence Awards 2011 winners with delight.

According to the New York Times financial report for 2010, total digital revenues increased 15 percent to $387 million in 2010 compared with 2009, and accounted for over 16 percent of overall revenue.

The management team continues its focus on diversifying revenue streams and strengthening its digital businesses, using technology and product innovation to enhance the user experience across multiple platforms.

For more than 15 years, the company has been at the forefront of digital newsgathering, and thrived as a dominant brand in journalism with an exceptional global reach. Perfectly positioned to capitalise on these many years of digital leadership, it launched in 2010, a string of acclaimed applications for the web, smartphones and new digital platforms, including Apple iPad apps for The New York Times, The Boston Globe and the International Herald Tribune.

The growth from digital initiatives significantly contributed to its revenue mix and provided meaningful diversification during our transition to an increasingly multi-platform organisation.

The e-reader application business has proven to be a vibrant market where consumers are willing to pay for quality content through an immersive reading experience similar to that of the print newspaper. Today, some of the e-reader platforms that offer the New York Times' content include the Amazon Kindle, the Barnes & Noble Nook and the Sony Reader. The Times is generally a best-selling newspaper on these devices.

Christopher Harper, in an article titled 'Journalism in a Digital Age,' quoting Tom Phillips, who oversaw most of Starwave's creations as senior vice president who now heads ABC and Disney's cyberspace news and information operation as saying: "The strength of digital journalism is the ability to integrate various media… This medium does a reasonable job at everything."

Phillips, according to him, sees digital news and information taking away reading time from newspapers and viewing time from television. "We are already expanding the reach of media into the workplace in a way the media were unable to do before," he quoted Phillips as saying.

Harper also cited the Chicago Tribune as an example. "The Chicago Tribune has put together its digital publication. The Tribune is one of the few newspapers in the country that has reporters who work exclusively for the Internet edition. The reporters write stories, take pictures, operate video cameras, and create digital pages.

"The Tribune Internet edition, which debuted in March 1996, contains most of the information from the print version - news, sports, job listings, real estate and automobile advertisements, weather, stocks, and television listings. For its readers, the Internet edition offers in-depth stories, special technology reports, games, discussion groups, and everything someone would ever want to know about the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Bulls. The Internet edition also provides audio interviews and information from the company's radio station, and video from the Tribune's 24-hour-a-day news service, Chicagoland Television."

And talking about advertising revenue generation, Hearst Magazines Digital Media (HDM), a unit of Hearst Magazines, May 3, 2011, announced it is the first third-party publisher to partner with Pictela, a unit of AOL, Inc. (NYSE: AOL), previously known as America Online, and a global platform for distributing high-definition brand content and advertising, to deploy the IAB Portrait ad unit. HDM will leverage this robust, multi-platform ad unit across its vast network of digital properties including cosmopolitan.com, esquire.com, goodhousekeeping.com, marieclaire.com, redbookmag.com and seventeen.com.

Until now, IAB Portrait has been running exclusively on AOL websites, including StyleList, Moviefone and AOL Travel. Launched in September 2010, the IAB Portrait unit has generated unprecedented results.

Engagement levels on IAB Portrait ads are significantly higher than that of industry standard rich media banners: consumers spend an average of 47 seconds more with an IAB Portrait ad (236 percent) lift; they also play 24 seconds more of video (100 percent) lift. At 300X1050 pixels, IAB Portrait integrates the functionality of three applications, granting users' access without leaving the page.

"Pictela has proved to be a highly strategic partner for Hearst, starting when we worked with them last year on the IAB Pushdown units," said Kristine Welker, chief revenue officer, Hearst Digital Media.

"Pictela continues to create high-quality, innovative ad solutions that drive measurable results, and we're thrilled to be the first magazine company to offer these premium ad units.

"Hearst has been a key partner for Pictela for over a year, and is a true innovator in premium formats," said Greg Rogers, CEO, Pictela.

"We're thrilled that Hearst is the first publisher to take the IAB Portrait ad unit," adding, "Hearst aligns very well with our brand advertisers, and we share many of the same clients.

"Hearst is one of the premier publishers in the media industry, and we're delighted to be working with them on premium formats," said Tim Armstrong, chairman and CEO, AOL.

"This is a milestone moment for the IAB Portrait ad unit and for AOL. Brand advertisers now have an ad solution that allows them to leverage all their brand assets and really drive incredible consumer engagement. It's a critical step in the aesthetic revolution across the web, providing the best online experiences for users, publishers and advertisers."

Procter & Gamble is running the IAB Portrait ad unit across multiple Hearst brands, including goodhousekeeping.com, marieclaire.com, redbookmag.com and thedailygreen.com. The ad, a part of the company's future-friendly programme that helps consumers save energy, conserve water and reduce waste, shows a gallery of their products including Tide Coldwater, Duracell Rechargeables, Pampers Cruisers and a video entitled Little Acts.

Meaningful impact
Launched in March 2006, Hearst Magazines Digital Media, a unit of Hearst Magazines, is dedicated to creating and implementing the digital strategy for Hearst's magazine brands and other sites, which serve the company's consumer audience.

The unit has launched, re-launched or acquired 24 websites and 11 mobile sites for brands such as Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Marie Claire and Seventeen, as well as digital-only sites such as Delish.com, a food site in partnership with MSN, TheDailyGreen.com, MisQuinceMag.com, RealBeauty.com, social shopping site Kaboodle.com, and consumer health site RealAge.com.

Hearst Magazines has published more than 70 applications and digital editions for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, as well as the Droid platform.

Pictela is a global platform for distributing high definition brand content and advertising. Pictela units support videos, photos, text and applications. Since launching in 2009 with Disney and American Idol, Pictela has experienced rapid growth with clients across Retail, CPG, Automotive, Travel and Entertainment. Its technology has been certified by premium publishers and approved by top social networks. Pictela was acquired by AOL in December 2010.
Capacity building
The digital communication revolution in the US is a total one because capacity building, as important aspect of the drive is being taking of too.

The Columbia Journalism School, University of Columbia, New York, has introduced an innovative dual-degree programme and will be accepting its first students in 2011. It is a Masters' of Science in Computer Science and Journalism.

Students will receive highly specialised training in the digital environment, enabling them to develop technical and editorial skills in all aspects of computer-supported news gathering and digital media production. The goal of the programme is for its graduates to refine and create new news gathering and digital media technologies that will redefine journalism as we know it. Nigerian universities offering journalism courses should take a cue from this. There is urgent need for them to take a second look at course content for Journalism or Mass Communication and make adjustments that will make the course relevant to today's industry needs.

Look at differently, this is an opportunity for entrepreneurial Nigerians to set up schools that will retrain journalists that will make them meet the latest skill demand in the journalism industry. In these lean times, media houses that have the capacity can make this training need part of their organisation and retrain journalists for the industry. This is another way to increase the earning capacity of their organisation. This is rethinking journalism that calls for the attention of media entrepreneurs.

http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/entrepreneur/entrepreneur-news/23647-digital-journalism-medias-new-cash-cow
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International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

Opportunity : In-country journalists & researchers needed to help track Global Integrity!

2011-06-24T01:57:00.001-07:00

Global Integrity is seeking journalists, researchers, social scientists, attorneys, academics and other experts with a background in governance and corruption issues to begin work on the Global Integrity Report: 2011.

There are different roles for interested contributors. Lead reporters prepare a 1,500 word story about corruption in their country. Lead researchers combine desk research with interviews of key informants to score more than 300 Integrity Indicators assessing their country's anti-corruption mechanisms and institutions. Peer reviewers review the reporter's story and the Integrity Indicators as well as overall country or region highlights.

To learn more about the requirements for working on the Global Integrity Report: 2011, please review the Fact Sheet below. Interested candidates, including those colleagues who have worked with us before, should apply online no later than July 20, 2011 by visitinghttp://apply.globalintegrity.org. Additional information about Global Integrity is available on our website (http://www.globalintegrity.org).

The Report is a compilation of in-depth country assessments prepared by local experts that combines quantitative data gathering with qualitative journalistic reporting to produce a powerful "snapshot" of the strengths and weaknesses of national anti-corruption mechanisms. The data is widely used by development experts and aid donors; reform-minded governments; private sector investors; journalists; and advocates to prioritize governance challenges and promote anti-corruption reform efforts.

Ghana to Host Media briefing on Digital Migration, June 30th, 2011

2011-06-22T08:03:00.000-07:00

The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and Balancing Act with support from the Open Society Institute (OSI) is organizing a briefing session on digital migration on June 30^th, 2011.

Media Briefing on digital migration session is aimed at :

o Providing information of on the issue of digital migration and why it is important

o Discussing the state of play in Ghana

African countries are committed to migrating to digital broadcasting by June 2015. Africa's digital transition in broadcasting has the potential to improve both the quantity and quality of what is available on TV and to increase the number of people who will be able to watch it. However, it is also a costly process and involves decisions on a range of issues which impact on both the costs and potential benefits of digital transition.

visit http://digmig.apc.org/ for more information

Ghanaian media doing a poor job – GTUC vice president

2011-06-13T10:35:00.000-07:00

Ghanaian media practitioners have been challenged to see their roles in new lights; not merely as reflections or mirrors of the society, but as the powerful and desirable tools to drive the nation's development and engineer improved living standards for its people.

If national development and the charge to pressurise leadership to be accountable to the citizenry remained cardinal in the core functions of the media, then they have not done enough because very little has been achieved in these respects.

Dr. Robert Awuah Baffour, Vice President of the Ghana Telecom University Collegewho gave the admonition, told participants at a symposium to mark the 10th anniversary of Penplusbytes, that if the status quo is nothing to write home about today, it cannot be expected to serve the nation any better in the future.

Speaking on The Promising future of new media technologies in Africa, Dr. Awuah Baffour said the media cannot afford to shirk its primary responsibility of serving as the mouthpiece of the voiceless and galvanizing the populace into desirable development.

"I don't think the media is doing a good job… Even though we have seen a change in our media platforms, I don't think the media is doing a good job... If you live in Achimota area and you have to drive from somewhere in Tesano going towards Ofankor, no country will allow such nonsense to go on, no country, except Ghana…", he pointed out, in reference to the snail-paced Achimota – Ofankor road reconstruction project that has seen a number of years-in-progress and the danger it exposes commuters to.

He also recalled an incident just last Friday when a DCE he chose not to name, angrily dropped a call while engaged in a discourse live on a radio programme, saying this cannot and must not happen in any sane society.

Dr. Awuah Baffuor said ideally the media should be on the case of the contractor on the road project as well as the government appointee until they are given the boot, instead, he will not be surprised to hear that this snobbish DCE keeps his job for years to come because that is the society Ghanaians, supported by the media, have decided to build themselves; a nation that rewards insults and nonsense.

"Right now our leaders, they are so happy when they insult people on national TV, when they insult people on radio, when they write bogus articles and blast people. The president of our nation is being insulted at various corners, all the way to even his personal life, even his sexual life people are talking about it. How can a nation think like that? And this is in the media, because now people can call from wherever they are because some of these new media tools like a basic cell phone can allow them to hide under a little corner of a tree and talk nonsense, and we sit down on our radio stations and allow such conversations to go on.

"So new media or old media, I think it is on the media people to make sure that proper decorum is done, we do the right thing. I know here if you want to become a deputy minister or you want to be a minister in the next administration whether it's going to be in NDC or NPP or CPP or whatever, you need to start blasting people day-in-day-out… That is the kind of system we have in Ghana. I think it's a shame. The media can control this."

He reiterated that leadership in the country and on the continent is not doing much for the people and that the media should stand up and refocus development.

"This country, this continent Africa is not working. Do you think this continent is working? If Africa is a project that started 20/40 years ago, today if you evaluate that project all you can say is the project did what, failed!", he said, his voice reinforced by the concurring voices of his listeners. "So let's forward it to 40 years from now, what do we want to measure? Are we going to say that our kids will say, 'well dad didn't do his job and therefore the project that he started also failed'? No! So we need to move on and change," instead of helping to build a nation that "rewards nonsense".

Dr. Awuah Baffuor said new media platforms, with their interactivity and synchronous ability, have so much potential to better the lot of society and it behoved industry players to employ them to the good of society.

"There are several areas in the health industry that media too can help. Right now if you go back to Kenya, Eastern Africa, Central Africa they are using all kinds of gadgets to help people with their medication, that is new media. You can report on issues new media. If you go to Youtube and say oh, there is an epidemic here, people be aware – that is new media - so in terms of the health industry, it is evolving and we in Africa should make sure we take advantage of that. There are several areas in the classroom environment where e-media is happening. In my school that is what we do. Indira Gandhi National Open University has a student population of three million, about the size (population) of Accra. Can you imagine every single person in Accra here goes to one school? And they have less than 500 lecturers, how can that happen?...It's online, that is new media for education. Here our mindset and some of the people especially the old folk believe that online education is bad, distance education is bad. That is the same mindset that has killed this country. We need to begin to move forward. If Indira Gandhi can have three million people trained online, Ghana cannot afford to have only three or four percent of our people have access to tertiary education. How can you develop a nation if only four or five percent of the people in the country can go to the university or our polytechnics, how can you move forward? How?."

10 years of PenPlusBytes

The symposium under the general theme of "New Media in Africa – Past, Present and Future", also discussed topics like "New media tools and their contribution towards Africa's development in the 21st century", and the "Evolution of new media technologies in Africa.

Dr. Kwabena Riverson, Board Chairman of PenPlusBytes, observed that from its early beginnings ten years ago as just an online training institution, Penplusbytes has assumed a world renowned African organization very much interested in advocating the effective use ICTs in newsrooms and advancing the course of journalism.

He said the organization has offered learning opportunities and scholarships for media practitioners, coaching and mentoring of journalists and media organizations in key areas of journalism especially ICT Journalism and providing expert consultancy to Governmental institutions and media houses on online security and other ICT matters.

Dr. Kwabena Riverson also noted a number of key studies, capacity building programmes and projects he said Penplusbytes has successfully conducted, including "the institution's flagship and immensely successful African Elections Project," inaugurated in 2008 and has since covered elections in 10 African countries - Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Mauritania, Namibia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Niger, Botswana and Togo. [You can read a pdf version of Dr. Riverson's address here].

"The ground breaking African Elections Project has enhanced the ability of journalists, citizen journalists and the news media to provide more timely and relevant elections information and knowledge and while at the same time monitoring of specific and important aspects of governance," he said.

The symposium marked the beginning of Penplusbytes' year-long celebration. Other activities lined up for the anniversary include a New Media boot camp for lecturers and budding journalists, a Pan-African anniversary essay competition for journalists in Africa, specialized training packages for media houses, fun games, research into 10 years of ICT journalism and an anniversary lecture.

Story by Isaac Yeboah/Myjoyonline.com

Call for Proposals on Water and Sanitation from West African Journalists

2011-06-03T08:09:00.001-07:00

The Pulitzer Center is seeking four West African journalists to join two international journalists to produce a series of reports on water and sanitation projects in West Africa. Deadline is June 20, 2011.

Reporting will be published in West African and international news outlets. This collaboration between West African and international journalists will improve the quality of the reporting on water and sanitation and give voice to West African journalists working to communicate the systemic crises affecting their countries to an international news audience. We aim for this model of collaborative reporting to be a model for future in-depth foreign reporting.

Background: West Africa has among the lowest rate of access to clean water and adequate sanitation in the world. Aid organizations, international financial institutions and governments have spent millions of dollars on projects throughout the region but the results thus far are mixed. Of the 600,000-plus hand pumps installed in sub-Saharan Africa over the past 20 years, for example, some 30 percent are known to have failed prematurely; less than one percent of projects have any kind of long-term monitoring.

Grant Description: The Pulitzer Center will award grants to four West African journalists to work with international journalists and Pulitzer Center staff to produce reports on water and sanitation for West African and international news outlets. A summary video segment will be produced for high-end U.S. broadcast news outlets (PBS NewsHour or similar platforms); work will also be featured on a special Pulitzer Center web platform.

The selected journalists and Pulitzer Center staff will travel to Stockholm, Sweden to attend World Water Week(late August 2011). There they will attend conference sessions and press briefings, develop a reporting plan for West Africa, and participate in a multimedia training workshop led by Emmy-award winning video journalist, Stephen Sapienza.

In October 2011 the international journalists and Pulitzer Center staff will travel to West Africa to report with the West African journalists in their respective countries. Expected deliverables for this reporting will be finalized at World Water Week.

All expenses in Stockholm and West Africa will be covered by the Pulitzer Center.

Eligibility: These grants are open to West African journalists, writers, photographers, radio producers or filmmakers; staff journalists as well as free-lancers who live and work in the region (as defined by the UN) and seek to report from their home country on water and sanitation.

Deadline: June 20, 2011. Selected journalists will be announced in early July.

How to Apply: Applications should be submitted to travelgrants [at] pulitzercenter.org with "West Africa Water" in the subject line. Questions should be directed to Peter Sawyer by email at psawyer [at] pulitzercenter.org or by phone at 1-202-797-5562. Applications must be received in English or French (English preferred).

Applications should include the following:

A 250-word statement of interest with plans for reporting on water and sanitation in your country (in the body of the email)
Brief description of experience with video, photography, radio and web media (in the body of the email); experience in these media is not a requirement for the grant
Two references with contact information with 1-2 sentences describing how each knows you (in the body of the email)
A letter from your editor or supervisor that gives permission to participate in World Water Week (August 20-28, 2011) and to travel with the American journalist(s) for one week in October, and that signals a strong commitment to publish or broadcast your work on the topic (as attachment)
Three examples of recent reporting (as links or attachments)
Curriculum Vitae (as attachment)

http://pulitzercenter.org/four-grants-west-african-journalists-covering-water-and-sanitation

TRAINING OPPORTUNITY IN OIL AND GAS REPORTING( deadline Friday 17th June 2011)

2011-06-01T05:21:00.001-07:00

The Revenue Watch Institute are in the second year of an extensive media capacity building programme for suitably qualified journalists from Ghana and Uganda interested in oil and gas reporting. The training programme will begin in August 2011 and run over a period of 6 – 8 months.

There are approximately 14 places available this year – 7 places for Ghanaian journalists and 7 for Ugandan journalists. The Revenue Watch Institute is a non-profit policy institute and grant-making organization that promotes accountable and effective management of oil, gas and mineral resources for the public good. Good governance of oil and gas revenues requires an informed, responsive and dynamic media environment to provide the oversight of the process and help inform the public about the issues. This is therefore the impetus behind our training programme.

The training will be delivered through a partnership of Penplusbytes in Ghana, the African Centre for Media Excellence in Uganda and Thomson Reuters Foundation. Methodology will be a mixture of seminars, interviews and informal 'roundtables', regular mentoring, field trips, workshops and debates with technical experts and journalists from Ghana and Uganda. It will be as interactive as possible and will involve critiquing and supporting the work of other trainees as they produce stories and explore the issues involved in reporting on extractives. In addition there will be travel bursaries for motivated reporters to enable them to build on their professional development in this field and an annual prize for the best reporting.

As this is a competitive process, places will be offered to reporters who make the strongest applications when addressing the information listed below.

1 Provide examples of any stories or mp3's related to extractive industries you have written or broadcast (clearly showing your byline where applicable and date of publication)

2 A short biography - no more than 200 words

3 A brief statement explaining how deepening your understanding of oil and gas reporting will contribute to your professional development and that of your media house (200 words maximum)

4 Write a pitch for a story on extractives you would like to pursue – who would you interview and why, what would be the angle and focus of the story and how this relates to your audience

5 Contact information for your editor – telephone, email, postal and physical address

All applications to be submitted by Friday 17th June 2011

Please email your material to training@penplusbytes.org

For more information email or call Kofi Mangesi kofi@penplusbytes.org 02442868090 or

George Lugalambi : lugalambi@gmail.com

Website : www.revenuewatch.org/ and www.reportingoilandgas.org

African Elections Project Launches myliberiawins and Media Guide

2011-05-22T02:23:00.000-07:00

African Elections Project, an election monitoring organization based in the West African state of Ghana, has launched a website that will provide information about Liberia's pending elections.The website www.myliberiawins .org will provide news, results, analysis, violence monitoring and features about Liberia's electoral activities and other national issues.

According to William Sam of the African Elections Project, Liberia will make the total of 11 countries that they have monitored their elections over the past years.He named those countries their activities had been in as Ghana, Mauritania, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana, Togo, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire and Niger.

Speaking as a guest launcher on May 19, 2011 at the Corina Hotel in Sinkor, Monrovia, the Professor for Mass Communication at the University of Liberia, Joe W. Mulbah stressed the importance of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) and said it is incumbent upon journalists of contemporary days to know their uses in the profession.Professor Mulbah said unlike past days when journalists only relied on pen and paper to communicate, more devices have come as a result of advancement in technology that communication is now done through different means.

"Today technology has improved, and communication is done through various means that pen and paper are becoming less important. Journalists nowadays have to learn computer, or else you will be wasting your own time," Professor Mulbah stressed.

Opposition politician Charles Brumskine who also attended the launching ceremony told journalists at the program to be ethical and give equal coverage to all parties in the elections.
He said the upcoming presidential election is a 'great moment' in the political history of Liberia that the media has a critical role to play to prevent conflict.

In addition to role journalists must play in the election, the Secretary General of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), Acarus Gray told journalists to be independent and give equal access to all parties as their ethics require.

Also commenting on the role of journalists in the coming elections, the President of the Press Union of Liberia (PUL), Peter Quaqua warned Liberian journalists whether member or nonmember of the PUL to work in accordance with the code of conduct of the umbrella organization.

Speaking specifically to journalists from Monrovia and rural community radio stations who attended the launching ceremony, Mr. Quaqua warned them to be conscious of what politicians say about their opponents, noting, "if a politician uses any unacceptable language against another and you do not stop him/her but allow it to continue, you will be a facilitator of the conflict that may arise".

The African Elections Project was established in 2008 with the vision of enhancing the ability of journalists, citizen journalists and the news media to provide more timely and relevant information and knowledge about elections, while monitoring specific and important aspects of governance in their countries.

The African Elections Project in Liberia directly responds to the need for an Information and Communication Technology (ICT), based platform to monitor election incidents of violence, irregularities and human rights abuses, spanning the period of pre-elections, and advancing human freedom in Liberia.

AEP

Editors schooled on how to cover the oil sector

2011-05-14T15:03:00.000-07:00

Senior journalists and editors are attending a training workshop on Strengthening media oversight of oil, gas and minerals in Ghana and Uganda at the Capital View Hotel in Koforidua.

The workshop, according to Mr Kwami Ahiabenu, a Director at Penplusbytes who organized the workshop in collaboration with Revenue Watch International, is designed to "Increase the quantity and quality of stories in" the media.

Explaining the rationale for the workshop, Mr Ahiabenu said, "Good governance of oil, gas and mining resources and revenues requires effective oversight. A knowledgeable and active media is critical to having an informed and engaged public, civil society and parliament that can hold government and companies to account. However, in many resource-rich countries, journalists often lack knowledge and skills in investigating oil, gas and mineral issues."

The workshop is therefore meant to equip journalists and editors with the requisite knowledge and skills to enable them adequately cover the sector. The objective of Penplusbytes, he said, is to offer "learning opportunities, coaching and mentoring of journalists and media organization in ICT Journalism."

Important exercise

The president of the Ghana Journalists Association, Mr Ransford Tetteh, and his Secretary, Mr Bright Blewu are both in attendance.

Mr Blewu said the presence of the two of them in the workshop demonstrates the importance they attach to issues relating to media coverage of oil and gas issues.

Communications Manager of Tullow Oil, one of the Jubilee partners, Mr Gayheart Mensah, reiterated the need for expectations of the citizenry about the contributions of oil to the economy to be managed. In his own words, "Our expectations need to be tempered."

While saying the oil find is quite significant and will provide Ghana with some reprieve, the point must be emphasized, he maintained, that expectations that Ghana will be transformed overnight because of oil, are unrealistic.

source : http://news.myjoyonline.com/business/201105/65731.asp

Ghana’s Editors meet on Oil and Gas

2011-05-09T10:20:00.001-07:00

In order to strengthen the capacity of the Ghanaian media to cover extractive industries as a whole and oil and Gas sector to be specific, Revenue Watch Institute and International Institute for ICT Journalism (Penplusbytes) in conjunction with the Ghana Journalist Association are organising three day retreat from 13^th to 15^th in Ghana's Eastern regional Capital of Koforidua.

This retreat will bring together senior editors from print, radio and TV as well as government, Members of Parliament, oil and Gas companies, leaders from Civil Society Organisations working in the oil and gas sector to deliberate on key areas such as the latest development in the extractive industry; the role of Civil Society Organisations in the oil & gas sector, status of oil and gas legislations, policies and regulations. In addition, a focus-group discussion will take place on how to stimulate oil & gas stories in the Ghanaian media and strategies for strengthening the overall capacity of the media in oil & gas reporting.

This retreat forms part of Revenue Watch Institute and Penplusbytes "Strengthening Media Oversight of the Extractive Sectors Pilot Program" in Ghana. The program aims at promoting good governance and an effective oversight of the oil, gas and mining (extractive) resources and revenues. The ultimate objective is to have a knowledgeable and active media which is critical to having an informed and engaged public, civil society and parliament that can hold government to account.

Currently a group of 8 Ghanaian journalists are undertaking an 8 month capacity building process. During this period, journalists participate in an overview course to consolidate their understanding of the oil and gas sector, followed by a more in-depth course, mentoring programme, bursaries support for stories, international field trips and awards. Two more groups of journalists are also expected to benefit from this program.

Kwami Ahiabenu, II of Penplusbytes stressed the importance of the retreat and believes that "by bringing Ghana's leading editors together for this retreat, it will go a long way to enable the media in Ghana to effectively perform its accountability role while at the same contributing to the improved use of oil, gas and other minerals for the public good.

He added the urgent need to increase the quantity and quality of oil and gas stories which he opined "can only be achieved not only by providing training for journalists but also ensuring key editors are also part of and parcel of capacity building process."

Editors Note

PENPLUSBYTES www.penplusbytes.org is a registered non profit since 18th July 2001 with the vision of driving excellence in ICT journalism. www.reportingoilandgas.org is a project of Penplusbytes.

GHANA JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION (GJA) founded in 1949 as the key professional umbrella organization representing Ghanaian Journalists.

REVENUE WATCH INSTITUTE www.revenuewatch.org promotes the transparent and accountable management of oil, gas and mineral resources for the public good.

16th Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Awards to include Oil and Gas Reporting

2011-05-08T12:30:00.000-07:00

The annual GJA awards, has seen a major boost by the inclusion of an oil and gas sector award for both print and electronic media.

The Oil and Gas award under category two of the GJA awards is principally sponsored by Revenue Watch Institute (RWI) working with Penplusbytes (Ghana) as part of "Strengthening Media Oversight of the Extractive Sectors Pilot Program". The program hopes to holistically and intensively support participating journalists over the long term with the ultimate goal of stimulating effective and consistent coverage by the media of extractive resources and revenues, thereby contributing to their improved use for the public good in Africa.

Kwami Ahiabenu of Penplusbytes indicates that "good governance of oil, gas and mining (extractive) resources and revenues requires effective oversight and a knowledgeable and active media is critical to having an informed and engaged public, civil society and parliament that can hold government to account and we are working to ensure journalists are equipped to play this role effectively "

The deadline for submission of entries is 5.00pm on Monday, May, 9 and entries should cover works published or broadcast from the period of January 1 2010 to December 31, 2010.

The winner of this category will be announced along the other categories at the prestigious GJA awards on August 20^th and will be presented with a lap-top computer, a special plaque and a certificate.

Commenting on the awards, Jackie Christie Revenue Watch Institute Project Manager said "increasingly reporters are attempting to cover the extractive sector as it becomes a larger part of the national debate and this must be encouraged. This award will help showcase good reporting around extractive governance and help raise the benchmark for other journalists wanting to specialise in oil and gas reporting this area"

Ends

Editors Note

PENPLUSBYTES is a registered non profit since 18th July 2001 with the vision of driving excellence in ICT journalism.

GHANA JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION (GJA) founded in 1949 as the key professional umbrella organization representing Ghanaian Journalists.

REVENUE WATCH INSTITUTE promotes the transparent and accountable management of oil, gas and mineral resources for the public good.

Penplusbytes 10th Anniversary Pan African New Media Essay Competition

2011-04-29T01:57:00.001-07:00

Penplusbytes 10^th Anniversary Pan African New Media Essay Competition

www.penplusbytes.org

Languages – French and English

Deadline: 15^th July 2011

Penplusbytes in association with Highway Africa announces first Pan African New media essay completion. The competition aims at increasing journalism students' knowledge and understanding of the importance of new media in our changing world.

Topic:

In a quest to define Africa's sustainable future in ten years time (2021), through critical thought in the media. Discuss what role will new media play in the social, political and economical transformation of the African continent? And how can we get there?

Who is eligible?
Student enrolled in public and private journalism, mass communications and media schools at the under graduate level on the Africa continent still in school by September 2011. Students must submit original essay and have a sponsoring lecturer preferably head of department signed entry form.

Format
The essay should be 800-1000 words typed and must be double spaced. Each entry must be accompanied by an entry form downloaded at http://tinyurl.com/3thz24y

Entering
Send all entries (essay and forms) via email to training@penplusbytes.org

Prizes

The winners of this pan Africa Award will receive very attractive prizes.

1^st Place: Fully paid participation in Highway Africa Future Journalists Programme workshops in Cape Town South Africa, September 2011 plus $300 (Three Hundred US dollars) spending money.

2^nd Place: iPad 2

3^rd Place: Net book laptop

4^th place – Small format video recorder

5^th to 10^th Places– certificate of commendation

Dates to remember:

Entry Deadline: 15^th July 2011 Notification of Awards: 15^th August 2011

Visit http://tinyurl.com/3thz2 to download an entry form

Power and Pressure: The Media in Africa

2011-04-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

A Special Program Sponsored by the Committee on Global Thought, the International Media, Advocacy and Communications specialization at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), and the Institute for African Studies. This half-day day conference at Columbia University taking place on April 27 2011 will look at the state of the media in Africa, as well as how the media is covering two of the most pressing issues currently facing the continent: the growing role of the extractive sector in the region's economy and the elections taking place this year. African Elections Project of Penplusbytes is expected to be presented at this conference.

visit http://cgt.columbia.edu/events/panel_on_africa_media/ for more details

Workshop : "The Role of New/Social Media in the Promotion of Press Freedom"

2011-04-19T00:14:00.000-07:00

Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) is organizing a one-day workshop on the impact of new/social media on development, scheduled for Tuesday, 19th April 2011 at 9:30 a.m. at the Ghana International Press Centre, under the theme: "The Role of New/Social Media in the Promotion of Press Freedom". The workshop is part of GJA's celebration of the 2011 World Press Freedom Day on May 3, which is under the theme: "21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers".

Chairperson Ambassador Kabral Blay-Amihere, Chairman, National Media Commission (NMC)

Welcome Remarks Mr. Ransford Tetteh, GJA President

Speakers/Topics

The State of Social Media -Global overview and The Frontiers and Barriers to Social Media - Ms. Myra Michele Brown U.S. Embassy

Challenges to Journalistic Standards in a Digital Age -Kwami Ahiabenu,II www.penplusbytes.org

Professor Linus Abraham, Director, NAFTI

Media Laws and Regulations in a Digital Age -Mr. Berifi Apenteng, NMC

Mrs. Abena Asafu-Adjei - Director of Legal Services, NCA National Communication Authority (NCA)

Social Media: the Gender Challenges- Ms. Dorothy Gordon D-G, Kofi Annan International IT Centre

PAIR - Programme for African Investigative Reporting

2011-04-13T02:56:00.001-07:00

The Programme for African Investigative Reporting (PAIR) works to support and develop investigative journalism in Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso.

PAIR has been developed by International Media Support (IMS) and the Danish Association of Investigative Journalism and is carried out in cooperation with West Africa Media Foundation.

visit http://www.i-m-s.dk/area/pair for more information

PhD scholarship on new media, citizen and community journalism in Africa, University of Central Lancasshire, UK

2011-04-11T12:59:00.001-07:00

International PhD Scholarship
Project Title: Confronting the 'dream deferred': Of new media, citizen and community journalism in Africa
University of Central Lancashire - School of Journalism, Media and Communication

Reference No INT-036Ogola

Applications are invited for a full-time scholarship available in the School of Journalism, media and Communication. The scholarship is tenable for up to 3 years for a PhD (via MPhil route) [subject to satisfactory progress] and is open to international applicants only. UK/EU applicants are not eligible to apply. The scholarship will provide £15000 towards the cost of the International tuition fee over 3 years.

Project Title: Confronting the 'dream deferred': Of new media, citizen and community journalism in Africa

Project Description:
The 1990s was epochal in the history of Africa. Pluralist politics was re-introduced with the news media playing a critical role in giving visibility to and participating in this transformation. However, poor media legal and policy regimes in a number of countries frustrated the growth of an independent media sector. As such, nearly 20 years into the 1990s political transformation, 'media freedom' remains the dominant narrative around which the continent's media sector is still discussed.
A spontaneous corrective to the mainstream media however began to emerge in various social and cultural institutions in the late 1990s.The increasing availability and adoption of ICTs gave new emergent alternative media and journalistic forms new platforms to develop new narratives through which to articulate the reform agenda and encourage public participation. While this 'alternative' media sector is still not independent of state structures and policy regimes, new media technologies have enabled the adoption of and development of new forms of journalistic practices and platforms that easily elude various economies of state control.

Social media, blogging, citizen and community journalism, mobile news,are all aspects of and drivers of this 'alternative' media sector. This project intends to examine the growth of this sector, looking at ways in which it has acted as a corrective to Africa's stalling media liberalization process. The project hopes to interrogate the space social media and other participatory forms of journalism are negotiating within the continent's media landscape as well as the new practices they are developing as critical tools capable of engaging with and facilitating the continent's democratization process.

Applicants should have, or expect to receive a qualification equivalent to a high class UK honours degree.

Informal project related enquiries may be directed to George Ogola email googol@uclan.ac.uk Tel 01772 894829

Application Forms can be found at: www.uclan.ac.uk/studentships

Completed application forms should be emailed to researchdegrees@uclan.ac.uk

The closing date for applications to the Graduate Research Office:Friday 13 May 2011 5pm British Summer Time

Proposed Interview Date: 2 June 2011

World Press Freedom Day 2011 to focus on 21st century media

2011-03-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

"21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers" is the theme of the next edition of World Press Freedom Day, which will be celebrated on 3 May 2011. Events are planned in more than 100 countries to celebrate the Day, which also marks the 20th anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration for the promotion of free and pluralistic media.

Among the highlights will be the presentation of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. The award ceremony will be held at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. The Prize, created in 1997, is awarded annually to a person, organization or institution that has made an important contribution to the defence and/or promotion of press freedom, anywhere in the world, especially if it involved taking risks.

An international conference will also be held in Washington from 1-3 May on the theme for the Day, organised by UNESCO, the U.S State Department and over 20 civil society partners. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is a leading funder of the event, which will be supported by private donations. The conference will be held at the Newseum, which is a museum devoted to the history of the press and to freedom of expression worldwide. Discussions will focus on the increasing role of the internet, the emergence of new media and the dramatic rise in social networking. For a complete list of the organizations welcoming this dialogue and volunteering to support the co-hosts in organization of the event, click here.

A special event is planned for 4 May at United Nations headquarters in New York to mark the 20th anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration. Adopted in 1991 after a conference held in Windhoek (Namibia) on the development of a free African press, this declaration emphasizes the importance of an independent press for the development and preservation of democracy and economic development. Two years later, the UN General Assembly established World Press Freedom Day.

This anniversary will be celebrated in Windhoek with a regional conference to review the future of the media in Africa. A publication, "So this is media freedom? 20 years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom", analysing two decades of media freedom in Africa, will be launched.

In the Arab States, UNESCO and the satellite network Al Jazeera will work together to host a series of events to mark the Day.

UNESCO is also encouraging all those who are celebrating World Press Freedom Day to observe a minute of silence in memory of the journalists who have given their lives for our right to be informed.

http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=31106&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

11 ways for editors & reporters to communicate better when working from afar

2011-03-22T08:51:00.001-07:00

By Tom Huang

Working with reporters from afar is something I've often struggled with. Not seeing each other on a daily basis makes it harder for the editor and reporter to communicate. E-mails get misinterpreted. Periods of silence — we all get busy — can create anxiety: Have I done something wrong?

It's even more complicated if you don't know the other person very well. You may not understand when he or she is being serious or joking. You may think a curt e-mail signifies frostiness rather than someone trying to meet a deadline on another matter.

While on the phone, you may need to talk through an idea at length, while the other person may need time to think. Such differences in communication styles can lead to misunderstandings, especially in long-distance editor-reporter relationships.

As an editor, chances are you'll eventually work with reporters in distant bureaus or with freelance writers based elsewhere. I've come up with a few tips for editors who face this situation, and I also asked for advice from two Dallas Morning News colleagues who are especially good at working with reporters from afar — Janie Paleschic, deputy business editor, and Ryan Rusak, state government and politics editor.

Whenever possible, use the phone instead of e-mail.

There's nothing like the human voice (even if it's disembodied) to create a better connection between people. Plus, you can pick up on the nuances in a phone conversation better than in an e-mail exchange. Even better, you may want to explore using Skype, the online video/phone tool.

"Taking time to reach out and to listen when you are not on deadline helps establish the trust that a reporter and editor need to be an effective team," said Paleschic, who worked on the foreign news desk for several years. "Knowledge and understanding of a reporter's situation is crucial. An editor may need to provide the calm center in a turbulent world."

Make sure to talk to the reporter not just about assignments, but about what's going on in the newsroom.

"Take time to explain newsroom management's thinking on various topics, the current vogue for certain kinds of stories, the push for more graphics…" Paleschic said. "This helps the reporter avoid the paranoia that can grow in a small bureau when people feel isolated."

Use e-mail for quick updates and for sharing drafts.

When I'm editing a draft, I typically write my suggestions in bold in the text and use double parentheses around proposed trims.

I call the reporter, ask her to read through the draft as I talk to her about my suggestions, and ask her to revise the draft herself. I only revise the draft myself if we are on deadline. Bonus tip: Avoid using sarcasm in your e-mails. It doesn't translate well.

Use conference calls to patch the reporter in to staff meetings. Also include the report in discussions with photo, graphics and online editors about the reporter's stories.

While it's good to use the phone, don't overuse it.

If you're like me, the number of tasks you have to accomplish as an editor in any given day can be overwhelming.

Avoid getting drawn into long phone conversations by setting up a weekly call (ranging from a half-hour to an hour) to chat about short-term and long-term issues, plus story ideas and challenges on the beat.

Let the reporter know when your meetings and busy periods are.

For example, if you have news meetings at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. every day, the reporter ought to know it will be difficult to reach you at those times. If Wednesday is your production day, it will probably be hard to have an in-depth conversation on that day. Similarly, if you know that a reporter is in writing mode or on deadline, you probably won't want to call her unless it's urgent.

Respect time differences.

"If a reporter is in another time zone, do what you can to accommodate them on deadlines and on work/life balance," Rusak said. "Similarly, they should understand that deadlines for the publication are what they are – and plan accordingly."

Ask the reporter to e-mail a short progress report at the end of each week.

The report should explain what the reporter has accomplished and what's on the horizon. This can help you keep track of stories and get a heads up on any emerging issues for the next week.

Take advantage of visits.

When a reporter is in town, make sure to schedule lunch, dinner or coffee. You'll want that face time to get to know each other. On occasion, Paleschic would even accompany reporters on shopping trips.

"Foreign correspondents often needed time to shop for basic items not easily found in their country," she said. "Sometimes I would go along, and this helped our bond. I still encourage Washington bureau staffers to get to Dallas at least once or twice a year."

During the visit, arrange for the reporter to meet with other staff members to help him feel more connected to the newsroom. In turn, if you have the funds (I realize resources are strapped these days), schedule a visit to the reporter's bureau to get a better sense of his work environment.

Consider using social media to stay connected.

Not everyone is comfortable with this, understandably so. If you do decide to friend your reporters on Facebook or follow them, and be followed by them, on Twitter, you'll need to be careful about blurring professional and personal lines. At the same time, social media is an effective way of staying in touch with colleagues who work elsewhere.

Realize that distance can also sometimes be an advantage.

"When you have a disagreement and need some space," Rusak said, "it's not hard to come by."

credit : http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/leadership-management/121887/11-ways-for-editors-reporters-to-communicate-better-when-working-from-afar/

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

Travel/Writing Grant Requirements

2011-03-21T13:10:00.000-07:00

Travel/Writing Grant Requirements

The International Institute of ICT journalism (Penplusbytes) in conjunction with Revenue Watch Institute announces the availability of a travel/writing grant under the Strengthening Media oversight of the Extractive Sector (with focus on oil & gas) project for Ghanaian journalists currently participating in the above project.

AIM: This grant aims to ensure that high quality in-depth and enterprising stories on the extractive sector, especially oil and gas, appear in the Ghana media more regularly. The grant will fund individual journalists, selected through a competitive process, to pursue promising ideas and produce well-researched and well-written stories.

The selection panel, consisting of Penplusbytes, mentors and Senior journalists, will look at story proposals that hold promise in the following areas, among others:

• Originality;
• Enterprise and investigation;
• Analysis and depth;
• Relevance and significance; and
• Potential to promote accountability in public policy and decision-making, and in the extractive industry.

AMOUNT: Apply for up to US$390. Journalists with more ambitious proposals may be considered for a little extra funding.

DURATION: The grant will run from March 15, 2011 to June 30, 2011.

WORKINGS: An applicant should:

• Fill a Bursary application form.

• Note that completed stories, once published by the media house, may also appear on the RWI and PPB websites.

• Discuss the application with the mentor before submission.
• Note that one person can apply for more than one grant to do a separate story only after completing the first story.
• Submit his or her application at least 2 weeks before the scheduled start of reporting.
• Stories must be submitted one month after the grant is approved
• Note that a print story will be 1,000 words in average length and 5 to 10 minutes for radio and TV. Investigative stories can be longer, and so are stories that are planned to run as a series.
• Aim to submit his or her completed story to the editor within a month of receiving the grant.
• Keep all receipts for accountability.

APPLY TO: Send application as email attachment to:
training@penplusbytes.org copied to
Kofi Mangesi: kofi@penplusbytes.org and
Kwami Ahiabenu: kwami@penplusbytes.org

INQUIRIES: For more information, contact:
Tel:+ 233 21 922620/922621/ +233302234015

Penplusbytes Turns Ten: Celebrating 10 years of driving excellence in ICT Journalism

2011-03-13T10:40:00.001-07:00

The International Institute for ICT Journalism (penplusbytes) turns 10 on the 18th July 2011. Over the past 10 years we have worked to achieve our vision of DRIVING EXCELLENCE IN ICT JOURNALISM.

Working with our partners and network members we hope to accomplish the following mission statement in the years to come:

To be the leader for developing ICT Journalism by:

a) Empowering & Building the capacity of the media through cutting edge ICT skills

b) Developing a vibrant research capability in ICT Journalism to support the Media and other Stakeholders

c) Building a vibrant community of ICT journalists around the world.

d) Advocating for media rights in the Information society

Watch out for key anniversary activities and join us to celebrate Excellency in ICT Journalism.

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

African Elections Project(AEP) to cover Niger second run Elections

2011-03-10T23:20:00.001-08:00

African Elections Project (AEP) http://www.africanelections.org/niger, your authoritative elections information and news services is covering Niger Elections 2^nd round slated to take place on Saturday the 12^th of March 2011 between the former Prime Minister Seini Oumarou(MNSD-Nassa) and long-term opposition figure Mahamadou Issoufou(PNDS-Taray)

The Niger 1^st round general elections, took place on Monday 31^st January 2011 to elect a president out of 10 candidates and 113 members of parliament. The final results indicated that, none of the 10 candidates who aspired to be president got more than the 50% required thereby necessitating a second round to take place.

According to Gerard Guedegbe, who is leading a team of reporters to cover this elections said "African Elections Project is set to provide timely and relevant elections information and knowledge while undertaking covering specific and important aspects of governance working hand with citizens journalists and civil society actors engaged in elections observations."

AEP was established in 2008 to empower journalists to cover elections using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) across the continent. AEP have successfully covered elections in Botswana, Namibia, Ghana, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, Mauritania, Mozambique, Malawi, and Togo and has launched coverage of the upcoming elections in Liberia with plans are also far advanced to cover Nigeria, Uganda and Cameroon.

In addition to its flagship online portal, http://www.africanelections.org/niger AEP is covering this elections using other new media tools such as facebook, blogs, frontlineSMS and twitter http://twitter.com/nigerelections. Subscribers can subscribe to our SMS news and results service by sending a text message to (00227) 97 16 30 37 in Niger or international - +447537401839

The African Elections Project-Niger is coordinated by Ghana based International Institute for ICT Journalism (www.penplusbytes.org ) working hand in hand with la Maison de la Presse du Niger and other key partners. The Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) www.osiwa.org is the main strategic and funding partner for AEP Niger.

Signed

Boubacar Diallo

Maison de la Presse du Niger

Niamey, Niger

10^th March 2011

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

Int’l Research Board Seeks Way for SMS Technology

2011-03-10T05:03:00.001-08:00

Int'l Research Board Seeks Way for SMS Technology

By:

Fatoumata N. Fofana & Victoria G. Wesseh

The International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) has said it is seeking ways to create a space for citizens to participate more fully in the national dialogue by developing a two-way flow of information between the governed and their leaders.

SMS (text) messaging or mobile phone-based information distribution has been identified by IREX as the simplest, most affordable and interactive medium through which locals can have a say in the governing process of their communities.

Toward this end, a two-day Mobile Phone Innovation Conference was held last week, bringing together over 50 participants from across Liberia, Africa, and the U.S. to explore and deliberate on the possibility of establishing such a mobile phone-based information distribution system, especially in advance of the upcoming 2011 presidential and general elections.

The initiative had two main objectives: to help with election monitoring and reporting during the pending 2011 poll and to serve as a tool for improving communication between the people and their leaders, at the local and national levels.

The Conference, which was held under the theme "Strengthening Dialogue and Citizens' Participition via SMS Technology," opened last Thursday and ended Friday in Monrovia. Thought-provoking deliberations were made on the following topics: Elections Monitoring: Ensuring Transparent Elections; Mobile Application in Development: Case Study of the African Elections Project; Frontline SMS for Development and Sustainable ICTs with Integrated SMS for Communication Hubs.

According to IREX, a major expected outcome of the conference was the establishment of an Application Lab where technical advisors will work with a team of Liberian community radio managers, civil society organizations and mobile phone companies to develop projects for field testing.

The Application Lab is expected to incubate the development of SMS-based applications specifically targeted at the up-coming elections as its most immediate goal.

Speakers at the conference included USAID Mission Director, Patricia Rader. Ms. Rader said the initiative would be well placed to afford citizens the opportunity to report potential threats of conflict during this year's elections while the government, on the other hand, would have the opportunity to communicate with citizens on policy issues affecting their lives.

Also addressing the Conference was Liberia's Posts and Telecommunications Minister, Dr. Frederick B. Norkeh.

He told the conference that given the growth and coverage of mobile technology services, mobile telephony could be used as an important tool for citizens to engage the government.

"Mobile phones can be utilized to collect and broadcast written, audio and video [information] to the internet and to other mobile devices. The government is committed to cooperating with stakeholders in developing locally relevant content which meets the needs of our citizens," he asserted.

For her part, the Deputy Information Minister for Technical Services, Madam Elizabeth Hoff, said: "While the Ministry of Information welcomes such an innovation due to the fact we live in a global village and in an age of technology, let us also be mindful that ideas, information and knowledge can also be effectively transmitted using traditional forms of communication."

She expressed concerns about the gap that still exists between the information-rich and the information-poor, which in her view seem to be getting wider, despite the global expansion of communication through the mass media.

Minister Hoff therefore stressed the need to blend modern technology with traditional folk media that are already an integral part of rural life [in the Liberian context] and the use of visual and oral expressions that are most often understood by locals.

The conference ended with four group deliberations on the possible uses of SMS technology in four main stages of the elections process, namely: pre-elections, elections, post-elections, as well as governance of the SMS system that will be designed to monitor such information.

http://www.liberianobserver.com/content/int'l-research-board-seeks-way-sms-technology

International Symposium on Online Journalism set for April 1-2 in Austin, TX, USA

2011-03-10T04:16:00.001-08:00

Journalists, media executives and academics from North America, South America, Asia, Africa, and Europe will take part in the 12th International Symposium on Online Journalism (ISOJ), April 1–2, 2011, at the University of Texas at Austin.

The annual event has been organized since 1999 by Professor Rosental C. Alves, the Knight Chair in International Journalism and director of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas at UT Austin.

The ISOJ will feature keynote addresses from executives of NPR, CNN.com, and Patch Media, and panel presentations from members of leading media organizations, including BBC News, The Daily, The New York Times, Washington Post, and Mexico's Grupo Reforma.

Presentations will focus on many aspects of online journalism, including innovations in the industry, economic models, technology and design, social media, nonprofit journalism models, and community engagement with the news.

Other panels will focus on academic research, featuring professors and graduate students. The ISOJ generated a record 50 submissions of academic papers from a variety of universities and countries. Twenty-two academic papers were accepted for presentation, confirming the growth of ISOJ's reputation as a world-class conference.

The ISOJ receives generous support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Dallas Morning News, and UT's College of Communication. It is a program of the Knight Chair in Journalism, the UNESCO Chair in Communication at the University of Texas at Austin, and the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas at the University of Texas at Austin.

"We have a great lineup of first-class speakers from around the country and around the world who will touch on some of the most important issues related to the evolution of journalism in this digital era," Alves says.
"We will learn from diverse topics such as the project to transform NPR from a radio network into a digital, multimedia enterprise and how the first newspaper produced for the iPad has been designed. We'll learn about the global operations of CNN.com and the local efforts of Patch Media and other companies."

A live stream of the event will be accessible from the Symposium website.

Registration is now available online at http://online.journalism.utexas.edu.

The ISOJ will begin Friday, April 1, with a keynote address by Vivian Schiller, president and CEO of NPR. The keynote speaker Friday afternoon is Meredith Artley, vice president and managing editor of CNN.com.

http://knightcenter.utexas.edu/blog/international-symposium-online-journalism-set-april-1-2-austin-tx

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

African Elections Project @ Mobile Innovation Conference

2011-03-03T12:22:00.001-08:00

The African elections Project (AEP) www.africanelections.org is currently participating in a 2-day Mobile Phone Innovation Conference in Monrovia, Liberia. The conference aims to increase citizens' participation in national dialogues and decision making process.

AEP presented a case study of the 10 different elections across the African continent the Project has covered. Mr. William Sam, Consultant with AEP took the participants through the technical processes of information gathering during elections, data processing and analysis and finally how that information is broadcasted via SMS and other channels such the AEP online portal, email and through other social media platforms.

The Project team also highlighted some specific experiences of using mobile phone technology in elections coverage. Some examples given included the use of mobile applications in educating the public about their civic rights and obligations, SMS usage in covering and monitoring elections, the use of SMS to alert relevant stakeholders about potential violent incidents, citizen journalism and news production.

The conference which will end on Friday the 4^th of March 2011 is being attended by Liberian Ministers of State and organizations from both Ghana and Liberia. This conference forms part of a 5year IREX www.irex.org programme in partnership with USAID that seeks to build the capacities of Liberian Civil Society Organisations and the Media with the ultimate objective of promoting peace and democracy in Liberia by the use of technology.

AEP

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

Liberian Journalists equipped with skill for effective Electoral Coverage

2011-02-27T13:30:00.001-08:00

A six day workshop under the theme "Enhancing the Role of the media for Effective Electoral Coverage" took place in Monrovia, Liberia from 21st to 26th February. The workshop is under the 5year The Civil Society and Media Leadership Programme of IREX www.irex.org in partnership with USAID, Liberia Media Centre, International Foundation for Electoral System (IFES) and African Elections Project www.africanelections.org.

The workshop is part of the process to prepare Journalists in Liberia to cover upcoming October 2011 general elections

Participants are being taken through topics such as, voter Registration, Exhibition and the Final Process, The National Referendum; Facts You Ought to Know, Drawing of Electoral Districts, Prospects and Challenges to the 2011 General and Presidential , PUL'S Code of Conduct (Elections) & Code of Ethics, Liberia's electoral history, Understanding Liberia's Election Laws & the Process, Conflict Sensitive Reporting & Information Management and ICTs and Elections Coverage which is being facilitated by African Elections Project, Liberia www.africanelections.org bringing project experience from 10 countries in this area.

The workshop was attended by 24 participants drawn from radio and print Liberia journalists.

AEP

Nigeria wants more investment in new media

2011-02-27T13:20:00.001-08:00

Nigeria is hoping that more investment in new media will be a means of
keeping the country informed of global media practices and the
advantages that come with Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) in gathering and processing content.

"The advent of the new media with its attendance technology has
enhanced media practices. It has brought with it greater speed," said
the Publisher of Media Review, Lanre Idowu, guest lecturer at the
public presentation of a book titled, "Secrets of Online and
Multimedia Journalism – A Manual for Online and Multimedia Journalism
Practice in Africa'.

The book is the first of such on the subject matter in Nigeria. It is
co-authored by two journalists, Mudathir Ganiyu, a former editor at
the Nigerian Tribune Newspaper, and Qasim Akinreti, a principal News
online editor with the Voice of Nigeria (VON).

"In terms of gathering of news, retrieval of archival materials,
production, contents, instant feedback and reaching wider audience,
the new media reshaped the practice of journalism and has also brought
with it new challenges", Idowu, who was represented at the occasion by
Anthony Okafor, added.

The lecture was titled, "New Media and journalism practice in Nigeria:
Challenges and Prospect."

http://www.itnewsafrica.com/?p=11033