Kwami Ahiabenu,II Knowledge Chief

The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) is in the process of reviewing its code of ethics for journalists in the country, in conformity with the emerging dynamics in media practice in the country.  According to the GJA, the review had become necessary in the light of the proliferation of radio and television stations, newspapers, social media and allied media outlets, which has made the media landscape a complex one and difficult to manage.  The last time a code of ethics was formulated for the GJA was in 1994, with the support of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) of Germany.  In connection with this, a brainstorming session was organised for experts in the media industry to come out with preliminary findings for the drafting of a final document to guide the performance of the media in the country.  The President of the GJA, Mr Affail Monney, said journalism had gone through several complexities and for which reason the code of ethics needed to be reshaped to stan...

"The Committee on Government Assurances was established to play an oversight role of the Executive arm of government in Ghana. We were faced with the challenge of interacting effectively with citizens and getting their valuable feedback on project delivery statuses. You can understand our excitement when we started the Connecting Citizens to Parliament Project in partnership with Penplusbytes to implement an innovative mechanism of connecting citizens to Parliament, using new digital technologies including SMS, an online portal, a Mobile App and WhatsApp. Our work was more efficient as, for the first time ever, we had a dedicated website on which citizens could report on projects within their communities and reach out to us via an integrated media system about other governance issues that they had concerns with. The project also equipped our committee members with technology, information and knowledge management skills. We call on all stakeholders to support us, sustain the succes...

By Kwami Ahiabenu, II @kwamigh  The world is changing rapidly. These changes are happening in part due to the exponential growth in global communication networks, particularly the Internet, which has seen the application and diffusion of new digital technologies in both developed and developing economies. One of the most popular changes is social media. It refers to online platforms and applications that enable users to interact through the generation and sharing of content glued together by group dynamics. It is important to note that social networking dates back to the creation of the world. Therefore social media can be seen to be empowering users to expand an age old activity in a profound manner. Currently, social media applications are seen in all aspects of human undertakings.  There are a thousand and one social media tools in use around the world  with  Facebook( 1,100,000,000), Twitter (310,000,000), LinkedIn (255,000,000), Pinterest (250,000,000) and Googl...

Penplusbytes is participating in the next edition of the Sub-Sahara Africa Upstream Oil and Gas Summit and Exhibition to be held in Accra, Ghana from 6th – 8th April 2016 with the theme "Preparing for the Challenges of Changing Times". This is to give Penplusbytes, which plays a leading role in the extractive industry insight provision, networking of key actors and international media training, an opportunity to interact with other players in the upstream oil and gas industry. The conference is expected to attract top industry players from across Africa and beyond with forty participating organizations and eighteen speakers. Key amongst which include  Chris Bredenhann  of Partner Pricewater Coopers, South Africa and Head of PwC Africa Oil and Gas Desk,  Victor Eromosele , an oil and gas industry expert who has been in the career for more than 33 years, holding 19 management positions and  Sim Katende , a legal advisor to the Government on the procurement of a lead in...