Source: Embassy of the United States - Accra - Ghana |

Reporting on Elections in Africa: An Online Workshop for Journalists

ACCRA, Ghana, February 9, 2016/APO (African Press Organization)/ --

The Public Affairs Section of Embassy of the United States of America cordially invites you or your representative to participate in an online election reporting workshop on Tuesday, February 16, 2016.

DETAILS:

Speakers:                            Jerelyn Eddings, Senior Program Director, Knight International Journalism Fellowships

Judy Yablonky, Media Consultant and Journalism Trainer

Topic:                                    Reporting on Elections in Africa: An Online Workshop for Journalists

Date:                                     Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Time:                                    1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Location:                             U.S. Embassy Accra (Please carry an ID for admittance)

Target:                                  Reporters, editors, producers, bloggers and anyone reporting or writing about elections in Ghana

Background:

There are numerous elections set to take place in Africa in 2016. The media will play a critical role in this democratic process before, during and after the polls close. Election reporting in Africa is challenging. Journalists face a host of obstacles, ranging from restrictions on press freedom to difficulties reporting from locations where there is limited polling or voting outcome data.

The virtual workshop will introduce journalists in the region to best practices in election reporting as well as the opportunity to interact with international journalists experienced in election coverage in Africa and beyond.

Workshop speakers will introduce and reinforce professional standards in the many aspects of reporting on elections and address the importance an impartial media and its relationship with both the government and the general public during the electoral process. The workshop will address:

Election processes
Covering campaigns (i.e., analyzing content of candidates’ electoral programs/speeches, polling information, candidates’ debate coverage)
Journalists’ rights to information during an election
The difference between journalists and election observers
How to prepare a coverage plan
Personal safety during election coverage
Post-election reporting

The speakers are experienced journalists who are familiar with the challenges of reporting on elections on the continent:

Jerelyn Eddings

Senior Program Director, Knight International Journalism Fellowships


Jerelyn Eddings supervises and implements global programs and serves as editor of the Knight Fellowships thought leadership blog. She has extensive experience in the United States and Africa as a reporter, editor, television producer and director of media capacity building programs. Previously, she worked as a foreign correspondent for the Baltimore Sun in Southern Africa (1990-94), as Atlanta bureau chief and then chief congressional correspondent for U.S. News & World Report (1994-97) and as director of the Freedom Forum’s Africa media center in Johannesburg, South Africa (1997-2002). Eddings holds a B.A. in journalism from the University of South Carolina and is a former Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.

Judy Yablonky

Media Consultant and Journalism Trainer


Judy Yablonky is a former journalist and editor who spent the last 20 plus years working as a media consultant and journalism trainer. She has worked as a trainer with a number of international organizations, such as the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), the Soros Foundation, the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism, and le Centre pour les Journalistes et les Communicateurs (CAPJC. She also has taught at university level and consulted with numerous newspapers and radio stations in a variety of countries. She has run training programs in nearly 30 countries for journalists from 40 different countries. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Embassy of the United States - Accra - Ghana.