After equipping 15 journalists in Kumasi with data journalism tools to produce data driven election stories, Penplusbytes in partnership with EIB Network is poised to deliver yet another practice intensive training for 15 more journalists drawn from the southern belt of Ghana.
The data journalism for elections reporting training forms part of activities under Penplusbytes’ “Voter’s Count – amplifying voices through new digital platforms” project.
The project which was launched in October is being implemented with support from USA Embassy in Ghana.
It is designed to keep citizens informed and engaged on political campaign issues to enable them make informed decisions at the polls while strengthening Ghana’s credentials as a beacon of democracy in the sub-region.
As part of the project activities, Penplusbytes and EIB are delivering two sets of trainings for 30 selected journalists from across the country on using data journalism to effectively report on Ghana’s elections. The second interactive training workshop is set to take off at the Maxlot Hotel in Accra from 27th– 29th October, 2016 and is designed to particularly strengthen the skills and experience of these journalists for improved issues based coverage of Ghana’s 2016 general elections.
The project will also deploy innovative new digital tools hosted under Penplusbytes’ African Elections platform mashed up with radio and television programmes to ensure that every vote counts towards the final outcome of the elections. This would involve the review of political parties’ manifestos to produce a comparative tabulation of policies, promises and costings which would be shared via online platforms including social media, WhatsApp and SMS.
According to Kwami Ahiabenu, II the executive director of Penplusbytes said Penplusbytes is poised to deliver on this project using the building blocks of training journalists in the use of data journalism, fact checking service and the ‘Ghana Elections Record’ platform.
“The project is expected to contribute largely to the success of Ghana elections 2016, by having a media focused on issues, well-informed electorates who will participate in issues based campaigning while at the same time promoting informed analysis of campaign issues and debates through the generation of data driven stories”, he added.
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About
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.
EIB Network continues to stand out as Ghana’s emerging star in media excellence. The network is led by a team of seasoned and competent managers who have helped in diverse ways to establish most of Ghana’s competitive media brands. A relatively new entrant in Ghana’s media landscape, EIB Network’s ambitious corporate drive is the reason for its phenomenal growth over a relatively short period. The network serves both English and twi-speaking demographics across its seven radio stations, two television stations and a newspaper
