With the Ghanaian general elections slated for December 2020, Pulse Ghana (https://www.Pulse.com.gh/), the country’s leading innovative media company is rolling out a number of initiatives. Pulse’s (https://Pulse.Africa/) election coverage is geared towards making the news accessible to everyone - and especially the young, digitally-savvy population, inclined to follow on the internet and through social media.

Election day is expected to be held on Monday, December 7, 2020. Some of Pulse’s election coverage has been activated for months and is focused on providing accurate and up-to-date coverage of the stakeholders’ activities leading up to the polls. This includes breaking down the manifestos of the two main contestants, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and John Dramani Mahama of the NPP and NDC respectively through new forms of social media coverage. And it involves capturing the reactions and sentiments of young people as the elections approach - through video, commentary and more.

For Ghana, the overall media use for these elections is novel: In previous elections, rallies, and other outdoor campaigns were the order of the day for candidates to inform about their agenda. But given the coronavirus pandemic, politicians now have to rely heavily on digital campaigns. Pulse Ghana will lead digital conversations to be part of the public engagement before the election.

Speaking on the election coverage, Katharina Link, Managing Director of Pulse Ghana said “We are excited about the coverage so far and the engagement rates we’re getting from our online audiences. More people are connecting to the conversation on their phones and sharing their views on social than ever before. While social distancing has hindered the possibility of open rallies, we believe it has also opened up a new platform for social and civil commentary.”

Pulse Ghana’s Editor-In-Chief and Director of Content, Kwame Boakye also said “As one of the few platforms in Ghana to cover the 2016 elections digitally, we are excited about the opportunities this experience gives us at a time when the world and especially Ghana’s political routine is moving online. With the challenge of setting records straight amidst the peak of misinformation, we will continue to deliver true and insightful content around the 2020 elections for our audience with innovative and engaging strategies. We are Pulse and are fully committed to getting the right information to our young and old audience around Ghana’s 2020 elections in various multimedia and easy to consume formats.”

While a number of digital programs have been rolled out already, more initiatives including interview stories, Q&As and election facts are underway as part of the digital election coverage.