Accra,– Madam Juliet Amoah, the Executive Director, Penplusbytes, a Non-Governmental Organisation driving change through the use of new digital technologies, says the Organisation is working on media information literacy to promote responsible use of social media and good governance.
She said the project would encourage young people who used social media to rethink how they distributed information, identify the purpose and analyse the information before forwarding to others.
“Some of the information we see on social media are created in a certain way to illicit some kind of reaction, which could be positive or negative so until the receiver makes up the mind on the information, he or she should not post it,” she added.
Madam Amoah said this at the Penplusbytes 20th Anniversary thanksgiving service on the theme; “Christ the True Shepherd.”
She said the project would bring out a new way of reporting news stories and tell compelling stories that meant “something to the ordinary person.”
Madam Amoah said new media could be used to promote accountability and effective utilisation of mining, oil and gas revenue and resources.
She said the Organisation believed in being a good shepherd, hence its activities that sought to promote effective governance and individual participation in the development process.
She said social media and technology were good ways to disseminate information but if critical attention was not paid to contents, it could harm peace and development.
She expressed gratitude to God for the successes chalked so far and that the NGO was working to kick-start projects and create an award scheme for journalists who would report its focus areas.
Reverend John Kwabena Akorful of the Methodist Church Ghana, Resurrection Society Kpeehe, said peace was crucial for the development of the country and charged media practitioners, especially citizen journalists, to be circumspect.
“We are all shepherds in our various homes, workplaces and as authorities hence the need to exhibit the qualities of a shepherd, which included being a peace maker,” he said.
Dr Charity Binka, the Board Chairperson of Penplusbytes, said the Organisation had trained over 1,500 journalists all over Africa to empower them to use technology to enhance their work.
She said it also built their capacity to follow up on the oil industry to monitor what the funds were used for.
She said Penplusbytes had used technology to monitor elections and offered voters opportunity to make informed decisions in Ghana and other African countries.
“Now because of Covid-19, people are using technology more, people are working from home, organisers and media houses are using zoom for meetings and this has been our vision,” she said.
Dr Binka said plans were ongoing to reach all African countries with the project to promote democracy and good governance.
Source: Ghana News Agency