Lamisi Dabiretag:online.kettering.org,2009:/individual/dabire/22007-10-30T18:55:13Z2007 Fanning Fellow and Media Professional from GhanaMovable Type 3.34Time for Public Accountability!tag:online.kettering.org,2007:/individual/dabire//2.462007-10-26T17:06:42Z2007-10-30T18:55:13ZI have been pleasantly excited about public hearings conducted by the Public Accounts Committee of Ghana’s parliament. Over the past couple of days the Public Accounts Committee has held public hearing on queries raised by the Auditor-Generals’ report for 2004/2005....
public hearings conducted by the Public Accounts Committee of Ghana’s parliament. Over the past couple of days the Public Accounts Committee has held public hearing on queries raised by the Auditor-Generals’ report for 2004/2005.
Staff of various Ministries, Departments and Agencies have all appeared before the committee to answer queries raised in the report. The public has been overwhelmed by reports of overpayments of contractors, improper award of consultancy services and uncompetitive procurement methods which contributed to the loss of funds running into billions of cedis.]]>
magnitude of waste in the accounts of some agencies that appear before the committee. You cannot blame opposition politicians who say the corrupt practices exposed at the public hearings are an indictment on the government. After all, the ministries, departments and agencies are managed by government appointees, who should have been more diligent in managing the public purse, entrusted to their care.
Perhaps the findings are also an indication of the expertise and availability qualified people handle the accounts of these ministries, departments and agencies. There is also the need for proper supervision and monitoring in our ministries, departments and agencies if public expenditure is to be safeguarded.
Thankfully, the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation has resumed the live coverage of the proceeding of the Public Accounts Committee, the initial, blackout worrying. The public clearly appreciates the work of the committee and if I were in charge of any of the private broadcasting networks, I’ll have given wide coverage to the entire process and not only concentrate on the controversies at the hearing.
Clearly, such public hearings conducted by the Public Accounts Committee of Public will strengthen financial management and accountability in the public sector. However we wait for the recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee to parliament and what happens there after.]]>
19 Ruling Party Presidential Aspirants and What for Ghanaians?tag:online.kettering.org,2007:/individual/dabire//2.422007-10-06T14:41:18Z2007-10-30T18:55:43ZGhanaians have for the past couples weeks been inundated with news of the New Patriotic Party’s presidential aspirants formally declaring their intentions to contest the party’s presidential slot. In a typical Ghanaian fashion, we have seen a lot of fun...
Ghanaians have for the past couples weeks been inundated with news of the New Patriotic Party’s presidential aspirants formally declaring their intentions to contest the party’s presidential slot. In a typical Ghanaian fashion, we have seen a lot of fun fair associated with picking nomination forms, filing nominations and launching their campaigns in different parts of the country.
A number of interesting issues have emerged concerning the New Patriotic Party’s opening of nominations; chief among them is the number of aspirants who have picked up their nominations forms to contest the flagbearership. Twenty people have so far collected forms; I believe the largest number of aspirants ever in the history of any political party since the forth republic came into being in 1992.There is also the issue of the large number of former ministers who were either kicked out of the government by the current president or resigned their positions to become aspirants. There are those who believe the larger number of aspirants gives credence to the fact that the NPP has men of talent and experience. We however wait for the end to the filing of nominations to see if all twenty men will return their forms and pay up the 250 million old cedis (a little over $ 24,000 dollars) as their filing fees.
showmanship”.
I am not going to get into the various polls that have been conducted and who they are touting as the likely candidate of the ruling NPP, it is however without doubt in my mind that Nana Akufo-Addo (former Foreign Affairs minister), Allan Kyeremanten (former Trader Minister), incumbent Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama, Hackman Owusu Agyeman (former Works and Housing Minister), and Dr Addo Kufour (former Defense Minister) are the fore runners.
I have been wondering what the 920 delegates will take into consideration selecting the party’s candidate for the 2008 general elections, would be on clarity of ideas and focus, hard work for the party or how much cash one flaunts? We wait to see as we draw closer to December.]]>
The Ghanaian Cedi (GH¢): Talk of New Notes and Coinstag:online.kettering.org,2007:/individual/dabire//2.182007-09-16T19:58:38Z2007-09-16T20:46:43ZGhanaians have since July 1 switched to a new currency, the “New Ghana Cedi.” It is of the same value as the old currency but with fewer zeros to it. The new denominated cedi seem to be receiving some good...
handle.
This comes as no surprise at all as Ghanaians over the years have complained about the bulky nature of our currency. The introduction of the New Ghana Cedi has reduced the quantity of notes carried by people. Before the introduction of the new Ghana cedi, its was impossible to carry two million old cedis (equivalent of 186 US dollars) in a wallet but now I can carry five times the same amount in my wallet depending on the notes.]]>
“I am not conversant with the coins yet so I am unable to speak much about them but the new note is making shopping interesting. I carry a few notes to the market and it’s more than enough for my weekly shopping. Recently I withdrew thousand five hundred New Ghana Cedi (fifteen million old cedis) was able to carry that in an A4 envelope.” - Josephine
“The new notes are portable and easy to handle. The coins are a bit of a challenge for me. I went to the bank recently to withdraw one million cedis ($100) and the entire amount was in coins. It wasn’t fun carrying so many coins in my purse.” - Adelaide
“It is my expectation that, the introduction of the New Ghana Cedi will help curb spate of bag snatching from bank customers. Because the old currency was bulky, thieves would easily identify people carrying huge sums of money when they walk out of the banks and follow them to snatch it. I am hoping the news notes makes it possible to outwit thieves who are always looking out for people coming out of banks with bulky bags.” - Maame Esi
“Its convenient, fits in you wallet and easier to manage but the coins are too small.” - Akua
“What happens is that when you withdraw money from the ATM, the amount is usually disbursed in multiples of 10 Ghana cedi, when you go shopping with it, it’s sometimes difficulty for traders especially to find change. Also, the last time I went to the bank I was given 100 Ghana cedi ($100) in coins, I had to carry that in a bag because there was no way my wallet could hold that. I would prefer a five Ghana cedi note as well instead of the coin.” - Augustus
“I like the new pesewa’s, considering that most people don’t handle the notes very well, the coins will last longer than the new notes. Take for example traders who sell fresh fish at the markets, they stain the notes and I am afraid the new notes may be damaged soon. - Kwesi
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Spokane, Washingtontag:online.kettering.org,2007:/individual/dabire//2.142007-06-21T14:17:05Z2007-07-09T06:37:16ZI discovered my love for the new media in Spokane. Even though I only spent two days with the Spokesman Review newspaper in Spokane, it made the most impression on me as far as doing journalism on the web is...Janet Alamisi Dabire
Spokesman Review newspaper in Spokane, it made the most impression on me as far as doing journalism on the web is concern. This “spokesman review” is maximizing the potential of the Internet to stay in touch with her readers. I spend a day and half in Spokane interacting with reporters and editors. I sat through one of their daily editorial meetings which are screened live on the papers website, as part of its transparent newsroom project. The objective is to let the public know what the paper plans to work on for the next day. The idea is for them to make suggestions if any to these stories. Residents of Spokane can ask questions as to why a story was written in a particular way and also make suggestions or even report on issue themselves through their blogs.]]>
email database of its readers, who they contact occasionally to comment on some emerging issue that the paper is writing about. The newspapers website has a video journals, over 30 blogs written by members of the community are also hosted on the website and as well as the transparent newsroom.
The Spokesman Review is not your typical newspaper which disseminates information that people need to make informed decision, but a part of a public space through which citizens connect with one another. The newspaper through its pages and websites connects the community on topical issues, from politics to parenting. Undertaking extensive coverage of issues to promote public understanding, constantly giving the citizens a chance to have a say on issues happening in the community.]]>
Will the Internet be an Additional Campaign Platform in Ghana?tag:online.kettering.org,2007:/individual/dabire//2.102007-06-19T12:45:20Z2007-07-09T06:37:17ZAs the political scene warms up in Ghana, many people are watching to see how sophisticated Ghanaians politicians will be this time round. As to whether the campaigning will take the same form of noisy rallies, promise mongering, indiscriminate postings...Janet Alamisi Dabire
As the political scene warms up in Ghana, many people are watching to see how sophisticated Ghanaians politicians will be this time round. As to whether the campaigning will take the same form of noisy rallies, promise mongering, indiscriminate postings of posters on walls, Radio, TV and newspaper advertisements as well as the usual euphoria that characterizes election campaigns or something totally different.
Already I see an improvement on the last election campaigns in 2004. While the New Patriotic Party (NPP) goes through the process of selecting a candidate for the 2008 elections, the National Democratic Congresses (NDC) presidential candidate Professor Evans Attah-Mills has kicked started his campaigns. Professor Mills seems to have a new appreciation for wooing voters. He is using door-to-door campaigns. That isn’t easy but likely to engage voters on a personal basis and perhaps win him some extra votes if the voters find his ideas plausible. I’ve read stories of Professor Mills becoming a foot soldier himself and interacting with people in places like Abossey Okai and he has plans of replicating it in other places across the country. That definitely looks like an innovation.
myjoyonline.com and ghanaweb.com for my news on Ghana, but sometimes I want certain details, which I don’t get on these websites, so to start goggling for other sources. I recently found some interesting websites of Ghanaian politicians and parties.
The Convention Peoples Party (CPP) is the only party with an active website. The rest have either been parked or under construction. The Greater Accra Regional Branch of the NPP’s website is active and the news page is regularly update with news from the local media. Professor Mills campaign website seems to have been idling since 2006 except for comments posted by supporters.
Some of the NPP presidential aspirants also have websites; of the 17 presidential candidates I have counted so far seven of them have some web presence. Allan Kyeremanten, Dan Botwe, Dr Frimpong Boateng, Nana Akuffo Addo, and Dr. Arthur Kobina Kennedy all have functioning websites, while Osafo Maafo and Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey’s websites are under construction. I have yet to locate website addresses for the rest of the candidates.
These websites contain mostly profiles or biography's of the candidates, their achievement so far, their leadership qualities and strangely very little on what their vision is for the NPP and for that matter are for Ghanaian. Arthur Kennedy blogs weekly on Ghanaian issues, a nice idea except that his last entry was on April 7, 2007. However, he is the only aspirant with a clip on youtube. He seems to have a better appreciation of using the web to campaign.
My verdict on Ghanaian politicians using the web to campaign is not an inspiring one but the web has a huge potential as a platform to engage the electorate and even for citizens to talk among themselves as on issues concerns them. Four terms of successful democratic elections calls for real discussion on issues now and not party/personality campaigns we have run in the past.]]>
Philadelphia Inquirer Creates Space for Citizens’ to Dream of a Future for their Citytag:online.kettering.org,2007:/individual/dabire//2.92007-06-10T16:50:02Z2007-07-09T06:37:17ZThis article was first published in a weekly staff newsletter of the Kettering Foundation. It describes my experience at forums held in Philadelphia as part of the work towards primaries for mayoral and city council elections. Even though the elections...Janet Alamisi Dabire
This article was first published in a weekly staff newsletter of the Kettering Foundation. It describes my experience at forums held in Philadelphia as part of the work towards primaries for mayoral and city council elections. Even though the elections have been held, The Great Expectation Project is continuing with a civic-to-do list for the next mayor of Philadelphia. This is an interesting development for me, coming from an environment in newspapers that only report what has happened and do very little to set an agenda for public officials. This is an example of how a newspaper is setting agenda and creating space for citizens to dialogue.
* * *
Residents of Philadelphia this week went to the primaries to elect a Democratic candidate for the mayor position as well as elect city councilors. These elections came after a highly intense process of engaging the candidates by residents and the media.
In December last year, the Philadelphia Inquirer under its “Great Expectation” project, organized a series of forums to find out what issues were going to take centre stage in the election primaries in the city. The residents identified violence and crime, education, jobs/economic development, taxes and housing.
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“After participating in many of the Great Expectations events throughout Philadelphia, I have decided who will emerge as the winner in November. It will be the citizens of this great city. The notion that Philadelphians are numb to “politics as usual” and don’t have the heart to do all the things necessary to bring control of the government back to the people has been put to rest, hopefully forever. We are engaged, we are paying attention, and we are going to the polls in what I believe will be record numbers. We have been given the opportunity to let our voice be heard and that alone will ensure Philadelphia truly does become the Next Great City.
Joe Eastmen
Chinatown
“Forums throughout the community have given Philadelphia residents the opportunity to talk about their concerns and get feedback from mayoral candidates. With so many choices, these readers have plenty to say about the candidates, the answers, the lack of answers, and the political process.”
Patricia Berrian Marrujo_
East Oak Lane
“I have been pleased to be a part of this community-based series of forums. Great Expectations has allowed us to meet and discuss our concerns about our great city. I hope this effort will not stop. It should link up with existing community organizations. In my area, this might be the Greater Bustleton Civic League and Somerton Civic League, and the Greater Northeast Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. I am trying to convince all I see that they must read up on the issues and the candidates (especially for judges), and VOTE.
Ruth K. Horwitz_
Bustleton
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What’s your Stake on Representation Of the People Amendment Act?tag:online.kettering.org,2007:/individual/dabire//2.82007-05-24T18:08:00Z2007-07-09T06:37:17ZGhana is once again at the crossroads of another political decision, this time its on the implementation of the Representation of the Peoples’ Amendment Act (ROPAA), which gives voting rights to Ghanaians abroad in the next general elections in 2008.The...Janet Alamisi Dabire
Ghana is once again at the crossroads of another political decision, this time its on the implementation of the Representation of the Peoples’ Amendment Act (ROPAA), which gives voting rights to Ghanaians abroad in the next general elections in 2008.The Electoral Commission (EC) has proposed to implement the ROPAA in countries with a minimum of 500 Ghanaian resident Ghanaian. The EC is also proposing that the highest ranking government official in Ghana’s missions would be mandated to head the supervision of exercise to register Ghanaians and the counting of the ballots in the Presidential elections come December, 2008.
All the political parties have not accepted the implementation of ROPAA in 2008; the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the Peoples National Convention (PNC) and the EGLE Party have registered their disapproval of the implementation of the law in the 2008 elections. They recently walked out on a meeting called by the EC to discuss their proposal. The Convention Peoples Party is yet to state its position on the issue.
The New Patriotic Party is by far the only party that has publicly called for the implementation of the policy in 2008. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo is reported to have asked the EC to implement the ROPAA in the 2008 elections at a political stakeholders forum on external voting system in Accra by IDEA. The call by the government for the implementation of the ROPAA has drawn many criticisms from the various political parties and some members of the public.
If the ROPAA is implemented in 2008, it will be the first time that Ghanaians Living Abroad (GLA) will partake in general elections since the 1992 constitution was promulgated. Proponents of ROPAA believe its implementation will entrench Ghana’s democracy while those against it say it will undermine the credibility of the election results.
This is what we know so far, the heated arguments will go on for a while. I’ll like for you to speak to this issue either broadly or be guided by the questions below:
• What is your stake on ROPOA?
• Would the implementation of the law in 2008 necessarily give you a voice in Ghana?
• The EC is proposing to allow GLA, to only vote in the presidential elections, is that helpful?
• What concerns would like for the government to address before the law is implemented?
Is citizen journalism the answer to keeping citizens active in democracy?tag:online.kettering.org,2007:/individual/dabire//2.72007-05-23T13:22:12Z2007-07-09T06:37:17ZCitizen journalism has been in the news lately especially during the coverage of the Virginia Tech tragedy and thereafter. The role played by the students in getting the news out and in keeping everyone informed was remarkable. There are those...Janet Alamisi Dabire
Citizen journalism has been in the news lately especially during the coverage of the Virginia Tech tragedy and thereafter. The role played by the students in getting the news out and in keeping everyone informed was remarkable. There are those who believe the age of citizen journalism has now fully arrived and those who believe the media is only now reaping the benefits of a citizen-led/citizen-initiated journalism effort that started less than a decade ago.
Gone are the days when big media were the people who got all the exclusive insights when a story broke. Ordinary citizens without press passes and training are now the people who are getting out the news and the professional media is running after them for the details by visiting their blogs, podcasts, inviting people to upload pictures, video and voice clips, etc. Such was the case in the coverage of the Virginia Tech tragedy. Everyone may not be aware that the first video and audio clips of the Virginia Tech incident were not captured by traditional reporters but by a student who used his cell phone. That cell phone recording of the scene was subsequently purchased by CNN. All media organizations went on the Internet to view blogs written by students as a way of updating themselves on the shooting incident.
Jeff Jarvis, veteran journalist and media critic who blogs at “buzzmachine.com” believes that this is the beginning of more changes to come in the architecture of news and media. He observes that there is a benefit to news organizations as they can get more first hand views of events from citizens than from a reporter who filters what needs to be reported. I share in Jarvis’s observation and anticipate an increase in the number of media organizations that put an effort into building a strong bond with their audiences through the Internet as well as other means. I see a kind of symbiotic relationship now emerging between many media organizations and their citizens.]]>
How is the media already working with citizens?
Media organizations in most cases aided by the Internet are sharing their space with citizens to tell stories of events happening in the world. In Ghana, people on a daily basis call or text into Phone-in programs on radio and Television and to newspapers commenting on news stories or contributing to discussion programs. Publishers and some radio stations especially who have websites allow user comments. The user comments attached to individual stories make it possible for people to react to the stories posted by either criticizing or praising the news item and/or add to the content of the story posted if they have some new information the professional reporter didn’t have access to. My favorite examples of such news sites in Ghana are ghanaweb.com and myjoyonline.com. These two are what I consider the most interactive websites in Ghana presently. Unfortunately, some people who visit Ghanaweb.com especially abuse this opportunity when they equate maligning people to expressing their candid views. A similar situation had prevailed on myjoyonline.com until they decided to moderate their site.
This description fits the most basic form of citizen journalism referred to as user comments approach. Media organizations are evolving different approaches in engaging their audiences. The Spokesman Review, a newspaper in Spokane, Washington State has developed different ways of connecting to their readers. Reporters in the newsroom have access to an email database of their readers developed by Ken Sands (the online publisher) to jumpstart their news gathering process. Sands tells me that reporters usually solicit information and experiences from members of the public on selected stories and add the feedback to the main story to enrich it. Responses received are incorporated into the story and the readers credited for it.
News editors are also increasingly making an effort to ensure that their audiences understand exactly what goes on in a newsroom. Some have created an editor’s blog, on which they constantly explain the reasoning behind certain decisions that they have made and as welcoming comments, criticism or any new information from people. It takes a certain level of self-awareness for this kind of conversation to take place. The awareness that, as an editor it’s my duty to explain to the public what influences my editorial decisions have. It clears the air and hopefully will assuage some of the suspicions people have about the media’s work. There are those who believe that this makes the newsroom transparent. On this blog a reader can challenge and criticize a newspaper’s editorial policy and question the editor. In most cases the editor will respond and explain the reasoning behind giving a story a particular slant. The Spokesman Review newspaper has gone a step further by webcasting its daily news meetings. The editors at the BBC have for this whole week remindered readers of the number of days that its Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston has been missing. The editors are presently explaining the reasoning behind it.
The next big thing that is happening in citizen journalism is blogging. Many people are writing blogs, blogging just about everything happening around them. Some write about serious stuff while others are more into trivialities. But when something important happens, all these blogs within the area of the incident report on it. It is therefore not surprising that big markets media are linking these blogs to their websites when a big news event happens.
CNN for example has introduced I-Report, a citizen journalism feature which encourages people to upload pictures, video and clips of things happening in their community. One of the first video/audio clips of the Virginia Techv shooting incident received by CNN was on its I-Report feature. What this feature does is to encourage citizens to become reporters for their communities by uploading images, which otherwise would have appeared in the media.
The BBC has for a while posted what it calls "Have your say" on its websites and typically solicits information from people in locations where some important news events are breaking. Recently, during the Nigeria elections, the BBC empaneled a number of Nigerian voters and observes who reflected on the entire process while reporting directly to the BBC on events as they unfolded in that country. This ensured that the BBC had information from different parts of the country. This is not the first time that the BBC has crowded sourced its news, and I believe it won’t be the last.
My concerns, however, are how sustainable such efforts are in the face of commercialization and competition. The BBC finds itself in a different position since it is a public news organization and so can afford to devote space and time to citizen journalists. But what about the big media markets like the CNN, FOX, New York Times, to name just a few US-based outlets? So far all the initiatives discussed above are event driven. Could they at some point offer real space for dialogue? ]]>
Missoula, Montanatag:online.kettering.org,2007:/individual/dabire//2.62007-05-09T22:31:46Z2007-07-09T06:37:17ZMontana was my first trip out of the Dayton, so it made me a little nervous. Everybody kept telling me it’s so different from Dayton and yet nobody told me what to expect. I therefore assumed I was going into...Janet Alamisi Dabire
Montana was my first trip out of the Dayton, so it made me a little nervous. Everybody kept telling me it’s so different from Dayton and yet nobody told me what to expect. I therefore assumed I was going into a cowboy zone. I arrived in Missoula safe and sound to a different environment but not a cowboy zone as I had anticipated, that was disappointing.
Missoula has large tracks of land, sparsely populated, but with a warm feeling. Right from the airport I felt welcomed to the town. Some folks I flew with were curious as to what business I had in Missoula. I guess they don’t receive many African visitors; one woman guessed right when she said I must be visiting the university of Montana, because it’s the only thing in the town, which attracts many foreign visitors. Well, she was right. I was there at the invitation of Denise Dowling, a broadcast journalism professor, who with her students are producing and hosting the “Footbridge Forum” on KBGA 89.9, a campus based FM station. The took the opportunity to see other media houses in Montana - the KPAX TV Station, the student-run radio station KBGA, and KUFM the public broadcaster.
KBGA 89.9 FM reminded me of my days at Radio Univers, a campus radio station on the University of Ghana when we were the masters of the airwaves with our “Campus Exclusive” program Monday to Friday from 7-7:30AM. The “Exclusive Team” was made up of Thomas Kwesi Tieku (now a political science professor in Canada), Stephen Tetteh Quao (the only trained journalist on the team at the time who now lives in UK with his family), Martin Joe Pinto, a Freight Forwarder and myself. We were a solid team that made it our objective to inform students of what was happening on campus as “objectively” as we could. On hindsight, I don’t think were very objective. The entire team was made up of student politicians who had their own agenda. The last time I checked, Campus Exclusive is on air making the program almost a decade old. My apologies for digressing, I can’t help talking about the good old days on the University of Ghana campus, I relish them.
Now back to the Footbridge Forum which I had the pleasure of sitting in during a live broadcast. The University of Montana id separated from the Missoula Township by a bridge. So, what the Footbridge Forum does is to attempt to close the gap between these two geographical areas through deliberation. The students each semester select an issue that interests both the Missoula community and the university campus and then hold a series of live forums around with views of exploring difference and widening the communication between the two. The ultimate objective is for the two groups to find a common ground.
I observed the production of a program on whether college is for everyone. It was interesting how the expert panel I observed talked about the benefits and costs of getting a college education, alternatives to college education, the job market demands in Montana and beyond. This was a sequel to an earlier program that featured citizens who expressed their opinions on the subject. The Footbridge forum handles citizens separately from the experts, so for each week’s program a citizen or expert panel of up to 5 people appears on the program. Each semester’s forum begins and ends with a citizen panel.
Missoula is a lovely, serene city of sidewalks with a hitching trail if you like to hike. After the first day I walked back and forth from the University of Montana campus. I must say the weather though was erratic, within a span of two hours we had strong winds, rains, hail then snow, highly unimaginable for this tropical girl. Interestingly I understand that there are 5 Ghanaian students at the University of Montana but I didn’t get to meet any of them.]]>
Washington, DCtag:online.kettering.org,2007:/individual/dabire//2.52007-05-08T15:51:48Z2007-07-09T06:37:17ZI visited Washington DC on a Washington Link Experience Program as part of the Kettering Foundation’s International Civic Society Fellowship Program and with my colleagues Jolanta Mindewicz from Poland and Ekaterina Lukyanova from Russia. I was taken in by the...Janet Alamisi Dabire
Speaker Nancy Pelosi.]]>
The Capital Building is opened to the public seven days a week and the day I visited; there were many other visitors too. The building was literally swamped and I kept asking myself how people could get work done in such an environment but I guess that’s a price to pay for running an open and accessible building.
The chamber of congress is absolutely beautiful, its ceiling are decorated with historical painting, the halls lined with historical figurines from all over the states in the US. The floors tiles are a masterpiece. Unfortunately, Congress was not sitting on the day we visited, so we spent very little time in the gallery them moved on to senate. We listened to a presentation by Senator Ted Kennedy on the Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act (S. 1082) which would impose the two-year moratorium on advertising newly approved drugs.
Washington boasts of many historical sites and the National Mall area holds many interesting places. The view of the Mall from the Lincoln memorial is spectacular; you have the lush lawn on each side of the Reflecting Pool between the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument. I stood on the spot where Martin Luther King stood and made his famous “I have a dream” speech. We had the opportunity to visit the Vietnam, Korean and the World War 2 memorials. I’d rather not say much about the war memorials as it reminds me of the war in Iraq. The Lincoln, Jefferson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. The larger than life statues reminded me of the immense role they each played in American Democracy. Then we had lunch in the Smithsonian castle, I wasn’t impressed by the food but by the fact I was in a historical building. The art gallery located in the Smithsonian castle houses different arts forms. Unfortunately we didn’t have much time in the castle but the little I saw of it is worth remembering. My only regret is that didn’t get to visit the Library of Congress, which was closed.
I had other learning experiences which I talk about in different entries.]]>
Rapid City, South Dakotatag:online.kettering.org,2007:/individual/dabire//2.42007-05-01T15:07:38Z2007-07-09T06:37:17ZMy trip to Rapid City South Dakota on March 30/31 was an eye opener for me. I had read about Native Americans in several novels but have never engaged them in conversation before. The closest I have come to meeting...Janet Alamisi DabireTalking Stone. The talking stone is Participants sat in a circle and the stone was passed from one person to the other, when the stone go to you, you were encouraged to speak to the issue at hand.]]>
It was a pleasure for me meeting these indigenous group of people and observing them speaking. I notice the Lakota are very friendly, reflective people who choose their words carefully and are never in a rush to have their voices heard. They weight everything in relative terms drawing a contrast in the way their life style was and what it is now.
These youth who were learning the Lakota culture including their language at a High School on the Rosebud Reservation near Rapid City. I listened to these young people struggle to identify with the Lakota culture, they introduced themselves and identified their lineage in the Lakota language. I was impressed that they were willing to learn about their culture. They have such a rich culture, which has been kept by the elders who are now passing it down to their grand children. I found some bonding as soon as we started talking about their way of life and seeking to retain what had worked for them in the past.
I heard the elders talk about their youth and how their culture of the Lakota people modeled their life style. They were concerned about suicide, rape, incest, teenage pregnancy and alcoholism on the reservation.
It was snowing so I didn’t get to see any tourist attractions but surprisingly found a Bolgatanga basket in Rapid City in a far away South Dakota. My host, Ruth Yellow Hawk walked up to me and asks if I knew where the basket was hand crafted. I excitedly said yes I do and explained to how the basket are woven and what they are used.
We had fried Bread and traditional soup made from Vegetables, buffalo and herbs for lunch. It was delicious, reminded me of a watered down version of Ghanaian light soup.
The Ghanaian Media, a Means and End to Democracy!tag:www447.pair.com,2007:/users/ketterin/individual/dabire//2.32007-04-26T20:22:14Z2007-07-09T06:37:17ZIt is without doubt that the Ghanaian media plays a pivotal role in the entrenchment of democratic principles in the country. As the fourth tier of the state, the media does not only play its traditional role of a watchdog,...Janet Alamisi Dabire
137 licensed radio stations, over hundred daily, weekly, biweekly and tri-weekly newspapers and four free-to-air TV Stations. At this rate, one can envision that the media sector is among the high employing sectors in the country.
Ghana’s 1992 constitution guarantees freedom of speech and expression including the right to freedom of the press and other media. The repeal of the Criminal Libel Law in 2001, a law that had impeded the journalistic profession in Ghana, opened the floodgates to private media. This saw the establishment of many newspapers and radio stations in mostly urban areas of the country with radio witnessing the most growth over the period and few more television stations.]]>
Map of Press Freedom places Ghana at par with countries like USA, Britain, South Africa and so forth.
The news media has in a little over a decade positioned itself as a partner of development. The media has been active in educating and keeping Ghanaians informed and helping develop communities. It goes to say that the media is largely responding to its role of supplying citizens with the kind of information needed to participate effectively in politics.
This is not to say that the media does not have challenges, it does. One major challenge that has been talked about severally is that of professionalism. I will limit the discussion of the challenges facing the Ghanaian media to professionalism because it has a direct bearing on the media’s role in making democracy work, as it should. There are examples of countries that have suffered wars due to unprofessional media practices… Rwanda is one such example. Any unprofessional practice has a high tendency of causing conflicts, which can retard development.
Professor Kwame in 2000 quoted from a Ghanaian Chronicle article, an apt description of the Ghanaian radio scene. He writes: “A number of FM stations have thrown all these marks of good broadcasting overboard. In their place, we have such pure nonsense ... Risky jokes and general frivolity have become the stock-in-trade of some of the very young persons — men and women — who sit in front of the microphones as they exchange what they judge to be pleasantries.” Six years later, in 2006, Dr. Kafewo Samuel also talks about the media growth not be commensurate with professionalism in an assessment of the Ghanaian media.
As we continue to discuss what needs to be done to raise media standards in Ghana, I believe it is important for us to also examine the kind of relationship that exists between the media and citizens. Is it one of the interdependency or self-opinionated? Where the media believe that they know it all and so people must “shut-up” and listen to them.
The Ghanaian media has traditionally interfaced with the public through person-on-the-street interviews, letters to the editor, phone-ins, emails and recently text messaging and blogging about issues thanks to the few websites we have.
Occasionally, you hear or read a story that has quotes of a person on the street. Other than that what you read or hear in most cases are views of public officials who have very extensive access to the media, thereby creating a huge imbalance in the public space.
The chief in Oblogo, for example, will in most cases have his views heard if his subjects decided to prevent Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) trucks from dumping garbage on their land other than that he is persona non-grata as far as the media is concern. Nobody seems interested in investigating the impact of the garbage landfill on the health of inhabitants of Oblogo.
Sometimes we tend to behave like the foreign media reporting on the “D’s”- death, despair, disaster and disease. But how is such news content relevant to the citizen, how does it address the needs of people in search of their daily bread, good shelter, education and good health for their children and themselves?
How many media houses, for instance, work with the AMA not covering their fracas with traders in Makola market but covering the process used by the assembly to arrive at fees/rates paid by residents in the city and how the revenues generated are expended? These are all public information, which are accessible to the media. Its just impossible all residents of Accra go to the AMA to request this kind of information but the media can on our behalf. Such an effort could engender transparency and accountability as many people will get an insight into how much money the AMA is projecting for a particular year, what the various budget line items are, how much it allocates to each of these items as well as the expenditure report for the previous year.
As the media strives to play its role in the Ghanaian democracy, it is important to address the challenges that can also retard development and initiate best practices.
I will like for us to ponder over the following questions:
• What do the media need to do so that the public can do its work?
• How can media connect with the public in a better way?
• How can new media work for the public?
• What kind of relationship does democracy require of citizens and the media?
• What are its characteristics? Please give examples.]]>
As I Saw the Coverage of the Virginia Tech Shootingtag:www447.pair.com,2007:/users/ketterin/individual/dabire//2.22007-04-23T20:29:07Z2007-07-09T06:37:17ZI have been following the news of America’s deadliest shooting ever at Virginia Tech with keen interest. My initial reaction was to follow the story like most people as it developed from one Television channel to the other and also...Janet Alamisi Dabire
the news of America’s deadliest shooting ever at Virginia Tech with keen interest. My initial reaction was to follow the story like most people as it developed from one Television channel to the other and also on the web. I kept asking myself how this heinous act could have taken place and what sort of person the gunman was? Many of these questions have since been answered with latest insights into the shooting incident. I had my own challenge about what kind of system allows for students to carry guns on school campus.
My curiosity turned surprise as I watched the story unfold. What shocked me most was the way CNN worked tirelessly to find a scapegoat for the massacre on the Virginia Tech campus. These so called experienced reporters of CNN kept asking and insinuating that the school authorities and the police on campus had failed to protect the students and lecturers. I was shocked by the deliberate effort to set people up against each other. It smacks of mischief, definitely not what the ethics of the profession encourages. Fortunately, most students interviewed were indifferent to the ploy. What they were concerned with was the fate of their friends and colleagues, and how soon the healing process was going to start.]]>
good citizen journalism at work. I have read a lot about citizen journalism and how it’s aided by technology but have never really seen it happen like I did last Monday and thereafter. The first video/audio recording of the shooting incident came from the mobile phone of Jamal Albarghouti, a Palestinian student at Virginia Tech. Albarghouti shared the video and audio recording from his mobile phone with CNN‘s a citizen journalism blog I-Report. I have also seen on MSNBC, a second video footage taken by a Swedish exchange student on the campus. Most news websites also posted pictures taken by students of the university as the scene unfolded. In essence, what happened here were students reporting what they had witnessed. I am not sure how many of these students have already been interviewed by reporters but I did listen to many of them on all the networks I tuned into.
All the major news outlets also started quoting from student’s blogs before their own reporters arrived on the campus. Even though these students were not trained reporters, they told the stories, as they knew it, without any judgment or spin, it was first hand information. They spoke of their friends, as they knew them, feeding the big media with valuable information that they could share on their networks. The slant of the news was not decided by the media but by the students who even in response to leading questions from CNN, for example, kept their focus.
Media organizations like CNN and the BBC are counting themselves lucky to have received lots of information from students when the story broke. The BBC and CNN have for a while encouraged visitors to their site to upload pictures, video and audio clips of happenings in their communities. This is not for just breaking news as it happened in the case of Virginia Tech but for communities to participate in generating the content of what is news.
The motivation for capturing these pictures, sound or video is the fact that there is a place to off-load them to a larger audience and that’s the mainline media network.
The coverage of the Virginia Tech Incident will definitely serve as resource material for further research into citizen journalism. It’s also a powerful proof of the media teaming up with citizens to bring better coverage to a mass audience. Coverage of the next big news to break in the US and I believe elsewhere as well is going to be very exciting because we have gotten a bigger pool of potential correspondents- people on the streets.]]>