Ghana

Aug 102012

Ghana Journalist Trained by Knight Fellows Wins Top CNN Award

A reporter for the ground-breaking “Hotline” radio show, launched in Ghana with the help of two Knight Fellows, has won the top prize for radio journalism in Africa.

Unilever Journalism Exchange Program for Journalists from Ghana

Samuel Kwaku Agyemang of Metropolitan Television (Metro TV) in Accra participated in the 2011 Unilever Journalism Exchange Program for journalists from Ghana. Agyemang was named the Best Journalist of the Year in Ghana in 2009.

Ghana: Journalism Training (2002)

Knight International Journallism Fellow Robert Eure (Deceased) completed six months of journalism training in Ghana in 2002, partnering with the Africa Institute of Journalism and Communications.

Ghana: Journalism Training (2000)

Knight International Journalism Fellows Virginia Knight-Tyson and Remer Tyson completed three months of journalism training in Ghana in 2000, partnering with the Ghana News Agency.

Ghana: Promoting Free and Fair Election Coverage

Knight International enabled journalists in Ghana to generate balanced reports on their country's 2008 presidential election. Knight Fellow Alison Bethel produced a first-of-its-kind election handbook that journalists used to focus on important issues and avoid stories that fuel partisan strife. The handbook was widely distributed to journalists throughout the capital.

Ghana: Tackle Poverty, Engage Citizens with a New Health Radio Show

Knight Fellow Sylvia Vollenhoven is interviewed on Joy FM about her mission to improve coverage of poverty-related issues.

Sylvia Vollenhoven created a weekly radio show that has transformed coverage of social issues and poverty in Ghana. On the popular “Hotline” show, Joy FM, the country’s top English language station, reporters have produced NPR-quality documentaries on topics ranging from the plight of illegal miners and the threat of erosion on fishing villages to the consequences of chronic flooding that kills dozens and leaves thousands homeless every year.

Jul 102010

Endless Possibilities of the New Media

Editors Note: Ghana's Sylvia Vollenhoven attends Knight Foundations/MIT COnference on the Future of News and Civic Media 2010.

My career started on the media timeline with yellow copy paper in triplicate and an Olivetti typewriter. In my son’s book this era followed shortly after the Gutenberg Bible. I am now at a place where the possibilities stretch into infinity and I’m not sure my head can hold it all or that we’re still talking linear progress here.

Jun 22010

In Ghana, Development Journalism Has a Troubled History

I stand in front of a sea of eager young faces expecting wisdom. There is a moment of panic when I feel that I don’t know anything worthwhile. But soon passion replaces the panic and I surprise even myself.

_You really made development journalism simple for us. You brought to the fore the need to make people the central characters of our articles. I have written several articles on telecom but most of it focuses on the issues rather than the people affected by those issues. Thanks again.

Jan 192010

Earthquakes & Media Freedoms

Editors Note: Media freedoms in Ghana compromise credibility of news.

This morning thousands of people all over Ghana arrived late for work and they were exhausted from being up all night… all for the same reason. No, it had nothing to do with a sports match in a different time zone. Ghanaians everywhere did not sleep because they feared an earthquake.

Earthquakes & Media Freedoms

Ghana No.1 on the Press Freedom Index