Penplusbytes New Publication: Data Journalism in Ghana

The concept of data journalism and the interactions that facilitate this is explained in Penplusbytes’ new publication titled Data Journalism in Ghana. This paper (http://penplusbytes.net/publications/data-journalism-in-ghana/) asserts that Data Journalism is very much in its infant stages in Ghana particularly and Africa in general, though the practice is gaining significant grounds among practitioners over the last few years.

Having committed to building the capacity of journalists to tell more impactful stories through new digital tools and skills, Penplusbytes, through this paper, aims to explore the character of data journalism practice first within the Africa landscape and then in Ghana’s journalism sphere; advancing the need for Journalists and the media to take up and build these skills for effective news production and dissemination.

Data Journalism in Ghana article focuses on data journalism as an essential field needing critical attention by the Ghanaian media in order to enhance accuracy and professionalism in their field of work, detailing the current stage of this field and its huge prospects for news rooms.

The paper examines the stand-out characteristic of data journalism compared to the rest of journalism and reveals a distinction with traditional (other) journalism. It covers, also, the Relevance of Data Journalism within Ghana’s media landscape and takes a much holistic view of it in Africa.

According to the paper, published in September, 2015 and available online for download, not only is data journalism becoming another way to report a story; in a way, it is becoming the industry standard. It explains further that with data journalism practice comes new possibilities for ‘big news’ to happen; combining the traditional news, information search and the ability to tell compelling stories.
“Unlike Traditional media or journalism, data journalism begins in one of two ways; either you have a question that needs data, or a dataset that needs questioning. Whichever it is, the compilation of data is what defines it as an act of data journalism,” reads a portion of the republication.
Globally, it has indeed become evident that not only is data journalism evolving but as it does, so is journalism too. The Publication seeks to establish what this exciting new status of data journalism means for Ghana and her vibrant and largely “free press.”

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Penplusbytes is a not-for-profit organization driving change through innovations in three key areas: using new digital technologies to enable good governance and accountability, new media and innovations, and driving oversight for effective utilisation of mining, oil and gas revenue and resources.