In preparation for the 2024 elections, Citi FM and Channel One TV have organised a training session to equip journalists with the skills necessary to cover the December polls with integrity, accuracy, and professionalism.
This initiative, part of the CitiVerify Project, was held at the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT (GI-KACE) on Friday, October 25, 2024, in Accra.
This session focused on several core areas, including responsible election coverage, fact-checking, understanding the legal frameworks governing election reporting, and protecting journalist safety in high-stakes environments.
The General Manager for Channel One and Citi FM, Bernard Alve, took participants through key skills that media practitioners need or must have to do impactful electoral reporting during the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections on December 7.
Some of these skills include storytelling skills, presenting & reporting skills, interviewing skills, production skills, new media skills, and analytical skills.
These skills, he said, are essential to the practitioners in presenting accurate information that counters disinformation which could undermine the electoral process.
“Interview is our basic way of telling stories. It is the basic place where information is extracted. If you do a lousy interview, you’ve wasted an opportunity,” he stated.
“The next skill is production. I argue that production is as important as presenting because, in serious media houses, the production capacity is what determines the angling of the story, who we are going to call…It is the brain of the news product. Because it determines the angle, who to talk to, the length of the interview.”
“Another skill you need is analytical skills. This is an election and what will win the election coverage for us at Citi is our analytical skills…If you are a journalist and you can’t analyse, you may not be effective,” he stated.
Vivian Kai Lokko, the Head of News at Channel One TV/Citi FM, highlighted the importance of accuracy, fact-checking and assumptions
“Accuracy is very important. That is why you are being trained. Another thing is never to assume, always ask. If you go and speak with a polling station person or a member of parliament, find out their full name and don’t be shy in asking these questions. It is better for you to ask than to get yourself into trouble,” she added.
The participants were also taken through data analytics, mobile journalism, storytelling, and the basics of news writing, among others.
