African Elections Project to cover Liberia 2011 Referendum

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!

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

"

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

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/