http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/ 2007 Fanning Fellow and Media Professional from Ghana en Copyright 2009 Fri, 26 Oct 2007 12:06:42 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 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.]]> http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/10/time_for_public_accountability.html http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/10/time_for_public_accountability.html Ghana Fri, 26 Oct 2007 12:06:42 -0500 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. http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/10/20_ruling_party_presidential_a.html http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/10/20_ruling_party_presidential_a.html Ghana Sat, 06 Oct 2007 09:41:18 -0500 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.]]> http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/09/the_ghanaian_cedi_ghs_talk_of.html http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/09/the_ghanaian_cedi_ghs_talk_of.html Ghana Sun, 16 Sep 2007 14:58:38 -0500 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.]]> http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/06/spokane_washington.html http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/06/spokane_washington.html Media Engagements Spokane, Washington Thu, 21 Jun 2007 09:17:05 -0500 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. http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/06/will_the_internet_be_an_additi.html http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/06/will_the_internet_be_an_additi.html Ghana Tue, 19 Jun 2007 07:45:20 -0500 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. ]]> http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/06/philadelphia_inquirer_creates.html http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/06/philadelphia_inquirer_creates.html Media Engagements Public Journalism Sun, 10 Jun 2007 11:50:02 -0500 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. http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/05/whats_your_stake_on_representa.html http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/05/whats_your_stake_on_representa.html Ghana Thu, 24 May 2007 13:08:00 -0500 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.]]> http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/05/is_citizen_journalism_the_answ.html http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/05/is_citizen_journalism_the_answ.html Public Journalism Spokane, Washington Wed, 23 May 2007 08:22:12 -0500 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. http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/05/missoula_montana.html http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/05/missoula_montana.html Media Engagements Missoula, Montana Travels Wed, 09 May 2007 17:31:46 -0500 Speaker Nancy Pelosi.]]> http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/05/washington_dc.html http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/05/washington_dc.html Travels Washington, DC Tue, 08 May 2007 10:51:48 -0500 Talking 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.]]> http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/05/rapid_city_south_dakota.html http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/05/rapid_city_south_dakota.html Rapid City, South Dakota Travels Tue, 01 May 2007 10:07:38 -0500 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.]]> http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/04/the_ghanaian_media_a_means_and.html http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/04/the_ghanaian_media_a_means_and.html Public Journalism Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:22:14 -0500 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.]]> http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/04/as_i_saw_the_coverage_of_the_v.html http://online.kettering.org/individual/dabire/2007/04/as_i_saw_the_coverage_of_the_v.html Public Journalism Mon, 23 Apr 2007 15:29:07 -0500