Twenty-five journalists and media professionals gathered in Accra this month for the third part of a capacity-building programme designed to basically change how Ghanaian newsrooms cowl science, know-how and innovation.
The workshop, held from March 10, marks Phase Three of the Capacity Building Programme for Media Excellence in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Reportage, organised by the British High Commission in Accra in partnership with the Responsible Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (RAIL) on the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST), and the Ministry of Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations.
The programme, which commenced in 2024, has now skilled greater than 70 journalists nationwide. Organisers say the cumulative impact of that coaching is starting to reshape how complicated analysis findings are communicated to Ghanaian communities.
Closing a Communication Gap
Prof. Abigail Opoku Mensah, Acting Administrator of the Ghana National Research Fund (GNRF), stated scientific analysis performed an vital function in shaping evidence-based coverage, however that the work of journalists was important to creating such data accessible to the general public.
She argued that the issue was not a scarcity of science however a failure of communication. Scientists throughout Ghana are producing analysis in agriculture, well being, vitality and local weather change, she famous, but a lot of these findings by no means attain the farmers, companies and communities positioned to behave on them.
Prof. Jerry John Kponyo, Director of RAIL at KNUST, stated nearer relations between scientists and the media would assist Ghana’s progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), giving authorities entry to well-researched data to information coverage selections.
What Journalists Learned
The four-day workshop lined a spread of sensible and moral dimensions of science reporting. Participants had been guided on the right way to assess credible analysis, with Dr. Thomas Amatey Tagoe, a neuroscientist on the University of Ghana and co-founder of GH Scientific, emphasising that credible scientific work rests on peer overview and referencing.
Journalists had been suggested to conduct thorough background analysis earlier than approaching scientists, guaranteeing extra productive and correct interviews, with technical jargon recognized as the first impediment in these exchanges.
Albert Oppong-Ansah, Head of the Environment, Science and Energy desk on the Ghana News Agency (GNA), urged journalists to look past press releases and think about the broader implications of scientific developments, together with who advantages and who may be negatively affected.
Responsible use of synthetic intelligence instruments in reporting was additionally addressed, with individuals suggested to cross-check AI-generated outcomes throughout a number of sources earlier than publication.
A Five-Year Commitment
Johnson Masagotin Singir, Science and Innovation Officer on the British High Commission in Accra, stated the programme kinds a part of a five-year UK-Ghana Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy working from 2023 to 2028, with a concentrate on strengthening collaboration between researchers and the media.
Singir added that some collaborating journalists would obtain funding assist to undertake specialised reporting tasks in science, know-how and innovation, aimed toward deepening public understanding of analysis.
Organisers say the programme will proceed to develop, with future phases anticipated to incorporate laboratory subject journeys in each Ghana and the United Kingdom to provide journalists direct publicity to lively analysis environments.