Twenty-five journalists and media professionals gathered in Accra this month for the third phase of a capacity-building programme designed to fundamentally change how Ghanaian newsrooms cover science, technology and innovation.
The workshop, held from March 10, marks Phase Three of the Capacity Building Programme for Media Excellence in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Reportage, organised by the British High Commission in Accra in partnership with the Responsible Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (RAIL) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST), and the Ministry of Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations.
The programme, which commenced in 2024, has now trained more than 70 journalists nationwide. Organisers say the cumulative effect of that training is beginning to reshape how complex research findings are communicated to Ghanaian communities.
Closing a Communication Gap
Prof. Abigail Opoku Mensah, Acting Administrator of the Ghana National Research Fund (GNRF), said scientific research played an important role in shaping evidence-based policy, but that the work of journalists was essential to making such information accessible to the public.
She argued that the problem was not a shortage of science but a failure of communication. Scientists across Ghana are producing research in agriculture, health, energy and climate change, she noted, yet many of those findings never reach the farmers, businesses and communities positioned to act on them.
Prof. Jerry John Kponyo, Director of RAIL at KNUST, said closer relations between scientists and the media would support Ghana’s progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), giving government access to well-researched information to guide policy decisions.
What Journalists Learned
The four-day workshop covered a range of practical and ethical dimensions of science reporting. Participants were guided on how to assess credible research, with Dr. Thomas Amatey Tagoe, a neuroscientist at the University of Ghana and co-founder of GH Scientific, emphasising that credible scientific work rests on peer review and referencing.
Journalists were advised to conduct thorough background research before approaching scientists, ensuring more productive and accurate interviews, with technical jargon identified as the primary obstacle in those exchanges.
Albert Oppong-Ansah, Head of the Environment, Science and Energy desk at the Ghana News Agency (GNA), urged journalists to look beyond press releases and consider the broader implications of scientific developments, including who benefits and who might be negatively affected.
Responsible use of artificial intelligence tools in reporting was also addressed, with participants advised to cross-check AI-generated results across multiple sources before publication.
A Five-Year Commitment
Johnson Masagotin Singir, Science and Innovation Officer at the British High Commission in Accra, said the programme forms part of a five-year UK-Ghana Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy running from 2023 to 2028, with a focus on strengthening collaboration between researchers and the media.
Singir added that some participating journalists would receive funding support to undertake specialised reporting projects in science, technology and innovation, aimed at deepening public understanding of research.
Organisers say the programme will continue to expand, with future phases expected to include laboratory field trips in both Ghana and the United Kingdom to give journalists direct exposure to active research environments.
