Ghana: Online editors form network to streamline ethics
A network of online editors has been formed in Ghana to help improve the quality of journalism using new digital technologies.
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Known as Online Editors Ghana, the network is to serve as a platform for Ghanaian editors to connect, inspire and share ideas to define the future of online journalism in the country.
The International Institute of ICT Journalism, Penplusbytes, facilitated the formation of the group as part of its mission of improving the quality of journalism using new digital technologies.
This was the outcome of a one-day “Strategic Briefing for Newsroom Online Editors,” in Accra where there was a unanimous agreement by 20 online news editors to form the group.
The online editors at the one-day programme were drawn from Daily Graphic, Spy Ghana, CitiFM, Ghana News Agency, Daily Guide, TV3, Starr FM, Radio XYZ, Metro TV, Inform Ghana, Ghanaian Chronicle, Modern Ghana and Business and Financial Times.
The editors pledged their commitment to promoting quality journalism and maintaining high ethical standards that govern the online news ecosystem.
The group, which has set out to become Ghana’s ultimate affiliate body for Online Editors, elected Mr Isaac Yeboah of Graphiconline as its interim chairman with Charity Tetteh-Roberts of Radio XYZ as vice-chair. The group will formally be inaugurated in April 2015.
In a short speech, Mr. Yeboah decried the habit of disregarding sound ethical considerations by some online news portals all in the name of the “We broke it first” syndrome, characterized by a rush to break news online, disregarding professional ethics because of competition.
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Members of the group pledged to set in motion a campaign to curb the abuse of ethics. It also indicated its readiness to partner with the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) to streamline the conduct of online editors and also with journalism training institutions to put online journalism ethics at the centre of their curriculum.
Mr. Charles Ayiku, a Web Communications expert and a facilitator at the briefing asked editors to prioritise credibility in online content delivery without which their audience cannot trust news from their respective online news outlets and desist from slanderous practices that will attract libel or the risk of being sued.
Another facilitator at the briefing Mr Boahene Asamoah, a new media expert, took the editors through exciting key trends and developments in the global online news environment in order for them to maintain a competitive edge.
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