Photo credits: Pawel Chojnacki
Media & Journalism
The crisis of the public sphere (and objectivity?), which has been evident for some time now, and the open hostility towards “mainstream media" will be part of our focus, as will the success stories from (investigative) journalism, great moments in international cooperation and collaborative framing of data traces and narratives. How are we dealing with each other in social discourses and in the comment sections? How do you prepare yourself for technological developments that keep making it harder to differentiate between what is real and what is fake? Is it a contradiction that robots can cover sports for us perfectly well, yet we are especially dependent on reporters and commentators to categorise and classify current events for us? What experiments and projects should you keep an eye on?
In this track we want to hear about the state of digital media freedom, the changing nature of public spheres, the effects of fake news, the changing media landscapes and the evolution of social media, about video platforms and other forms of online expression and entertainment. We invite media professionals, journalists, bloggers, storytellers, and citizen journalism projects of all kinds to share their insights, research and experiences. We’d love to see contributions from investigative journalists presenting their findings, from hashtag campaign initiators, from social media analysts and influencers.
- Media & Journalism-This session will take participants through basic podcast skills: How to use your everyday devices (phones and laptops) and studio equipments to record, edit and start broadcasting your voice.
- Media & Journalism-Let's explore the business models of Ghana's traditional media and the components of these models that need to evolve as new media continues to disrupt the space.
- Media & Journalism-For every stage of the news, broadcast programming and other storytelling, there's a new media or digital platform offering solutions. For each task in information gathering, processing, publishing, audience engagement, discover an app, a web platform or a tip that you might have overlooked. This workshop is a one-hour walkthrough of some of the options you have in the use of simple, low budget, low entry digital tools.
- Media & Journalism-What is Freedom of Panorama, how does it affect you, what is being done to increase people rights, and how can you get involved? These are questions will be discussed with Douglas Scott from Wikimedia South Africa. For the past four years Wikimedia South Africa has sought to give members of the public the right to take photographs of public works of art and share them digitally. An activity that despite popular assumptions about copyright most people in Africa do not have the right to do.
- Media & Journalism-In the US, Asia, and Europe, Facebook has come under intense scrutiny for its role in the circulation of “fake news”. But what happens when viral disinformation spreads through regions in Africa already in the midst of ethnic violence?
- Media & Journalism-This workshop will be a general orientation workshop about Wikipedia - a free, collaborative, multilingual, online encyclopedia that can be read and edited freely by anyone in the world.
- Media & Journalism-This talk will look back at the history of free speech online in Africa.
- Media & JournalismData-This workshop will be a general orientation workshop about Wikidata - a free, collaborative, multilingual, secondary database that can be read and edited by anyone in the world.
- Media & Journalism-Digital technology grows fast and new solutions are created every day. The advertising and media industries have had to adjust rapidly to these changes, especially in Africa. Are Ghana’s media professionals adapting fast enough to this new digital reality? Are independent consultants dominating media and advertising houses? How can both sides succeed in this developing market? This interactive session will discuss the topic and provide useful tips for media professionals on both sides.
- Media & JournalismData-Nowadays, citizens, the protagonists of data banks (both private and public), are central to a power game involving both public policy decisions and consumer integrity. To whom does data belong? For whom is it most or least accessible? How can data be made more visible, so that it can create new narratives that permit the development of basic community rights?
- Media & Journalism-Although podcasting remains a relatively niche market in Ghana, it has witnessed a recent explosion through which it has emerged as a means for progressive Ghanaian voices to bypass mainstream, largely conservative media gatekeepers.
As both participants and researchers in this emerging scene, Eli Tetteh and Kobby Ankomah-Graham chart the rise and potential of the podcast as a space for Ghanaian counterculture. - Media & JournalismData-Investigative journalists and activists rely on smartphones to do their job. Smartphones are a key resource to test the powerful and keep governments in check. At the same time, smartphones can provide a window into the most sensitive parts of their users’ life and work. Recently, even some governments are alleged to utilize smartphones against users at odds with their political agenda. What are the threats, how can smartphones be protected and what is the role of tech companies in all this?