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Funding opportunity for journalists

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Who is eligible to apply?

Open to all journalists currently working with and for a recognised Ghanaian media organization.

How to apply

Applicants are to submit a one-page document with the following:

  • Name
  • Email
  • Phone number
  • Media Organisation
  • What is the Story idea and why is it an important story? (one paragraph)
  • What is the intended impact of the proposed story? (two paragraphs)
  • How much funding support is required for the story development?

(NB: funding support should be between GH¢ 100-1500)

Applicants should send information to MFWA at: [email protected] with subject: ‘SDG Funding Support for Journalists’

The MFWA will confirm receipt of submitted proposals by email.

Publication of stories

  1. Stories to be supported under this project must be produced and published/broadcast between September 1 and October 9, 2017.
  2. Journalists are to publish their stories in their respective media organisations. Links to the online publication of stories, audio and visuals should be submitted to the MFWA as evidence.

Opposition Demonstration Eclipsed by Social Media Blackout

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Opposition Demonstration Eclipsed by Social Media Blackout

Reports from Togo say social media has been disrupted in the country since September 5, 2017. WhatsApp and Facebook are completely inaccessible while internet speed has reduced to near stoppage.

“3G service has been disrupted since yesterday; Facebook and WhatsApp are not accessible on 3G mobile applications”, reported Bonaventure N’Coue Mawuvi, President of l’Institut des Medias pour la Democratie et les Droits de l’Homme, (IM2DH), a media development and human rights organization based in Lome.

Mawuvi said “internet connection via cable has also been disrupted this morning [September 6].”

The disruptions come as the Togolese opposition coalition embarks on demonstrations across the country today (September 6) to demand political reforms including the reinstatement of term limits. The demonstrators are also demanding justice for the victims of police brutality during an earlier demonstration.

The reported shutdown is thought be an attempt by the authorities to prevent effective mobilisation for the demonstrations through the power of social media

The phenomenon of internet shutdowns during important national events like elections and demonstrations is gaining grounds in the sub-region. On the eve of the general elections in The Gambia in December 2016, the internet was shut down in that country. On June 14, 2017, Facebook and Twitter were disrupted in Mali ahead of a planned opposition protest against proposed constitutional reforms.

Given the indispensable role of the internet as an enabler of other freedoms in spheres ranging from education to business, agriculture, health and socialization, its disruption is major abuse of citizens’ rights. The MFWA therefore appeals to the authorities in Togo to move quickly to restore the network.

MFWA Applauds CSOs, Media Professor for Standing Up for Investigative Journalism

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MFWA Applauds CSOs, Media Professor for Standing Up for Investigative Journalism

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) commends the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Ghana Anti–Corruption Coalition (GACC), Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Citizens’ Movement against Corruption (CMaC), and Africa Centre for International Law and Accountability (ACILA) for standing up for Investigative Journalism in Ghana.

On Tuesday September 5, the civil society organisations issued a joint statement to express deep disappointment with a statement that had been issued by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) on 31st August, 2017 captioned “GJA on Anti- Corruption Crusade.”

The statement by the GJA ostensibly sought to serve the interest of big businesses by cautioning investigative journalists not to wage smear campaign against local businesses and entrepreneurs without pointing to any evidence of such conduct by any investigative journalists in the country.

The GJA statement was issued at a time when one of Ghana’s famous investigative journalists, Manasseh Azure Awuni, had started releasing reports of his investigations into alleged questionable contracts worth millions of cedis between the government of Ghana and a number of local companies.

The joint statement by the leading CSOs observed that given recent developments and the context within which the GJA statement was issued, “the GJA may knowingly or unknowingly be playing along with businesses which may be involved in allegations of wrongdoing and want to undermine the work of investigative journalists who are exposing alleged wrongdoing.”

The Dean of the School of Information and Communication Studies at the University of Ghana, Professor Audrey Gadzekpo, had also condemned the statement by the GJA. “The timing was very curious and it suggested to me that the Association itself and not individual journalists had fallen victim to corporate capture,” Professor Gadzekpo said in an interview with Accra-based Joy FM.

The statements by the group of CSOs and the renowned media academic followed an earlier statement issued by the MFWA on Monday September 4, cautioning the GJA not to act in ways that will discourage and undermine investigative and anti-corruption reporting.

In an era when quality journalism faces a serious threat from ‘media capture’ by big businesses, the MFWA calls for continued support from CSOs, anti-corruption agencies and advocates for the few courageous, honest and dedicated journalists who remain committed to quality journalism that helps to advance transparency, accountability and good governance in society.

 

Top Journalists under Siege

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Top Journalists under Siege

Police in Mauritania have arrested and interrogated four senior journalists in connection with what it terms “trans-border crimes.”
The journalists involved are Moussa Samba Sy and Jedna Deida, directors of publication of the daily Quotidien de Nouakchott and the online news portal «Mauriweb», as well as Babacar Baye Ndiaye, webmaster of Cridem.com and Rella Bâ, also of Cridem, an online journal. All the media outlets are private and very critical of the government in Nouakchott.

The MFWA’s correspondent in Mauritania reports that the four were subjected to humiliating and intimidating interrogations by the police on August 25, 2017 in separate incidents. The police stormed the offices of Quoditien de Nouakchott and interrogated Moussa Samba Sy before taking him away for further questioning at their station.

It was a similar ordeal for Boubabacar Bay N’Diaye and Rella Bâ of Cridem, who were fetched from their office and subjected to several hours of interrogation at the headquarters of the police.

In response to accusations that they are on a witch-hunt mission against journalists and media outlets that are critical of government, the police said the arrests have no link to the editorial leanings of the media involved.

“The Police Commissioner of the Criminal Division has assured me that the journalists involved have neither been arrested or accused; but were only questioned because their names came up in a matter that is under investigation,” said the president of Mauritania’s journalists union, Mohamed Ould Dah after a meeting with the police

Meanwhile, the arrest have been condemned by a large section of Mauritanian society as an attempt to intimidate journalists and stifle critical voices. In a communiqué issued on August 26, Institution de Opposition Démocratique, a political opposition group, said “the regime  is deliberately using the police and the judiciary to level false charges and conspiracies like “trans-border crimes” in order to silence any voice that speaks against its tyranny.”

The MFWA is concerned about the reported harassment of the journalists involved. We call on the police in Mauritania to follow due process and respect the right and dignity of the journalists involved.

Fighting Impunity: Police Officers Sentenced for Brutalising Demonstrator

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Fighting Impunity: Police Officers Sentenced for Brutalising Demonstrator

Three officers from the anti-riot squad of the Niger Police were on August 22, 2017, sentenced to one year imprisonment each and ordered to pay 15 million CFA ($ 26,993 US) in compensation to a student who was detained and brutalised during demonstrations which took place in mid-April 2017.

It would be recalled that on April 10, 2017, a demonstration by students of the Abdou Moumouny University in Niamey was violently repressed by security forces with one student killed and several injured.

A day after the deadly crackdown, a video went viral on social media showing three police officers detaining a student in their van and beating him with truncheons.

The video generated public outrage, with the media and human rights groups calling for thorough investigations and justice.

One week later, the police authorities published a statement to condemn the brutality and announced the arrest of the officers involved. The three were put before a Tribunal and sentenced on August 22, 2017.

The MFWA welcomes the conviction of the police officers as a powerful message against impunity. We commend the authorities in Niger for responding favorably to calls for justice and urge them to ensure that the family of Malah Bagalé who was killed during that fateful demonstration also receive justice.

Deadly Crackdown: Anti-Government Protesters Killed

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Deadly Crackdown: Anti-Government Protesters Killed

There has been a bloody crackdown on peaceful anti-government protesters in Togo, with the opposition reporting seven deaths, while official sources report two fatalities.

The simultaneous protests were held on August 19, 2017 in four cities across Togo – Sokode, Kara, Anie and Lome – to demand term limits on the presidency and an end to the “Gnasingbe dynasty.” President Faure Gnasingbe is serving his third term after succeeding his father, Gnasingbe Eyadema, who ruled for 38 years.

The police used lethal force to disperse the thousands of demonstrators. They also injured and arrested many of the protesters including Sama Kossi, the Secretary General of the opposition Pan African National Party, (PNP).  

In a statement, the security ministry said two civilians were killed in Sokode and 12 gendarmes were wounded.

However, Tikpi Atchadam, President of the Pan-African National Party put the death toll at seven.

“Police shot and killed seven innocent civilians in Sokode over 300 kilometers from Lomé who were protesting over the way one family has been ruling the country for over fifty years. From the father to the son; it’s like a family property and we are ready to resist that this time,” Atchadam said at a press conference on Saturday night.

The Minister of Territorial Administration, Payadowa Boukpessi, tried to rationalise the police violence by claiming that “the demonstrators were armed with stones, knives and cutlasses. They were attacking the security forces who were there to provide them security.”

Meanwhile, the Togolese League for Human Rights, at a press conference on August 20, blamed the government for the crackdown which it believed was “premeditated.” 

“We demand that the perpetrators of these killings do not go unpunished and that the people who have been arrested are released immediately, and we maintain that this repression was premditated.”

This is the second time in six months that police brutality has resulted in the deaths of protesters. On February 28, 2017, one person was killed when the police tried to break up a demonstration by taxi drivers and commercial motorcycle riders in Lomé.

The MFWA condemns the attacks on peaceful demonstrators. It is a flagrant violation of citizens’ right to peaceful assembly which must not go unpunished. We therefore call for thorough investigations to identify the perpetrators for appropriate retribution.

WEST AFRICA MEDIA EXCELLENCE CONFERENCE AND AWARDS – Call for Entries

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WEST AFRICA MEDIA EXCELLENCE CONFERENCE AND AWARDS – Call for Entries

Are you a journalist in West Africa who has produced compelling work(s) that has had significant impact on society? If yes, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) invites you to submit your work(s) for consideration for the first ever West Africa Media Excellence Awards.

This is an initiative to reward and inspire media excellence in West Africa. The maiden edition of the Awards is scheduled for October 28, 2017 in Accra, Ghana.

The Awards are opened to journalists from print, electronic and online media in Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone countries in West Africa. Applicants must be West African, working with and for media organisation(s) based in West Africa. An Entry for the Awards must have been published or broadcast between the period, January 1 to December 31, 2016.

Deadline for submission of entries:       September 17, 2017 at 17.00 GMT.

Judging period:                                           October 2 to 4, 2017

Announcement of nominees/finalists:   October 10, 2017.

Applicants should upload published works via the entry form on the website: www.mfwa.org/wameca . The entry should be an original work published through a media outlet in West Africa and must show date of publication/broadcast and the medium in which the work was published.

The categories open for entries are:

  • Investigative Reporting
  • SDG’s Reporting
  • Business Reporting
  • ICT Reporting
  • Human Rights Reporting
  • Photojournalism
  • ECOWAS and Regional integration
  • Sports Reporting
  • Health reporting
  • Anti-corruption Reporting
  • Environmental Reporting
  • Women’s Rights Reporting
  • Children’s Rights Reporting
  • Oil and Gas Reporting

From the entries submitted, the judges will also select the overall best report for the prestigious West African Journalist of the Year Award.

Applicants may submit entries to a maximum of two categories and for each category a maximum of two entries.

Finalists will be hosted at the Awards event on the 28th of October, 2017 and also participate in the West Africa Media Excellence Conference on the 27th of October, 2017 which will feature sessions on topical journalism issues and also provide opportunities for networking with other journalists, editors, and experts from West Africa.

For further clarifications, please write to info[@]mfwa.org or Abigail Larbi (abigail[@]mfwa.org) or call the MFWA on +233 302 242470.

The Gambia: MFWA, Partners Launch Media Reform Strategic Framework

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The Gambia: MFWA, Partners Launch Media Reform Strategic Framework

The Media Foundation for West Africa and its Partners have launched a Comprehensive Strategic Framework for a long-term Media Sector Reform and Development in The Gambia. This followed a validation of the Framework by stakeholders at a forum held in Banjul.

The forum which, had the President of The Gambia, H.E. Adama Barrow, as the Special Guest brought together local and international stakeholders including the ECOWAS, the UN Office for West Africa, UNESCO, the Diplomatic Community, journalists, editors, civil society groups, other media development organisations.

The Media Reform Strategic Framework is the result of a joint and collaborative process involving the government of The Gambia represented by the Ministry of Information and Communication Infrastructure (MoICI) and Gambia Press Union (GPU); the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), International Media Support (IMS) and Gambia Media Support (GAMES).

As an initial step in the process, a 12-member group of local and international media experts that included media managers, editors, regulators, academics, lawyers and policymakers was constituted. Through a series of workshops and consultations, the expert group came up with the Comprehensive Strategic Framework.

The purpose of the Framework is to guide the entire media sector reform process in the Gambia and also ensure that the urgent development of the media sector is comprehensive, sustainable and with a long-term perspective. The key focus areas of the Framework are:

  • Media Law and Policy Reforms
  • Media Capacity Development
  • National Communication Policy
  • Media Professional Standards
  • Transformation of State-owned Broadcaster into a Public service Broadcaster
  • Institutional development for journalism institutions
  • Media infrastructure development

The Framework is also expected to guide interventions by actors and partners who seek to contribute to the strengthening of the media sector at various levels and in various ways.

Following the launch, the MFWA and its Partners will continue to engage and ensure the implementation of the Framework to promote freedom of expression and media development in The Gambia.

President’s Cartoon; Senegalese Journalist Freed from Six weeks’ Detention

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President’s Cartoon; Senegalese Journalist Freed from Six weeks’ Detention

A Senegalese journalist was released on August 11, 2017 after spending over a month in detention for sharing a cartoon of President Macky Sall on whatsApp.

Ouleye Mané, who works for Touba TV, was detained on June 30 alongside three others on charges of “publishing pictures which offend public morality.” The photoshop image showed a naked body resting on President Sall’s chest.

The incident has caused great furore in Senegal with opinions divided. Some say the cartoon is offensive and transgresses the limits of freedom of expression. Others say the authorities have overreacted.

Critics of the government point to the President’s defense of free expression in the Charlie Hebdo case and accuse him of double standards for penalising a cartoon against himself.

For their part, la Convention des Jeunes Reporteurs du Senegal (CJRS), a reporters’ guild and national partners of MFWA, take a dim view of the detention of the journalist and her three friends, (two women and a man).

“Cartoon is a form of expression for journalists. Although we do not encourage insults and any form of denigration of the image of the president, this is a matter of journalistic responsibility and not of legality,” said Boubacar Boly, CJRS’ Director of Communication.

“As president of the Republic he has chosen to be under the spotlight. We therefore appeal to him to display a spirit of tolerance, to dissociate himself from, and live above this melee,” Boly appealed to the President.

The MFWA recognises the need for journalists to respect cultural sensitivities. Nonetheless, it is a matter of ethics which should not put journalists in prison. We urge the authorities in Senegal to drop the charges against Mane and the three others, and appeal to the media regulator to intervene to find an amicable settlement to the matter.

Improving Citizens’ Access to Information: MFWA Schools 50 Local Assembly Officials in Ghana

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Improving Citizens’ Access to Information: MFWA Schools 50 Local Assembly Officials in Ghana

Fifty officials from four Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in Ghana are currently receiving training on how to improve information disclosure and citizens’ access to information. The officials comprise chief executives, public relations/information officers, budget officers, planning officers and environmental officers who are drawn from the Tema Metropolitan, Wa Municipal and Twifo Ati-Mokwa, and Ellembelle District Assemblies.

The training, which is being organised by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), forms part of activities under the project: “Promoting Citizens’ Participation in Local Governance through Increased Access to Information”. Participants at the training will receive knowledge on and skills in how to effectively utilise media and other governance platforms to share information, and thus become more responsive to citizens’ queries on the management and utilisation of public resources within the local assemblies.

Leaders of the four MMDAs committed to the project when MFWA held inception meetings to broker collaborations between the MMDAs, local-based radio stations and Community Based Organisations. The MFWA’s Programme Officer for Media, Democracy and Development, Ms. Adizatu Moro Maiga said it is important for citizens to receive information from their duty bearers on how public resources are managed and utilized. “This does not only build trust in leaders; it also reduces citizens’ apathy towards local development” she added.

Launching the project in Wa, the Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Hon. Chinnia Issahaku, observed that granting citizens’ access to information helps to dispel the negative perception they have about local authorities and their work. He therefore charged the assembly officials to take advantage of the project to explore effective ways to become more accessible to the community citizens.

The MFWA’s Access to Information Project seeks to promote accountability, transparency and inclusive governance. It is currently being implemented in partnership with DW Akadamie in four pilot districts and with OSIWA in five additional districts. It involves community forums, comprehensive capacity building programmes for local radio stations based in the target districts as well as support for media programme production on community development and governance issues.

Other activities under the project include training of young community members in citizen journalism, and production of policy briefs highlighting community development and governance challenges in the target districts.

State Broadcaster Suspends Journalist for “Sabotage”

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State Broadcaster Suspends Journalist for “Sabotage”

The state broadcaster in Guinea, Radiodiffusion Télévision Nationale Guineene, RTG, has suspended a star newscaster, Ali Camara after he described the failure rate at the 2017 Baccalaureate examinations as “intellectual massacre” during a news programme.

Alia Camara made the unscripted remark in his introduction to the 8.30 pm newscast of July 26, 2017. In the suspension letter addressed to the newscaster, the Editor in Chief of the national television service, Aboubacar Camara, described the said remark as “sabotage.”

The presenter announced his suspension himself on his Facebook page by posting: “suspended indefinitely from presenting the televised news for having described the 2017 failure rate as intellectual massacre. Apparently, it is wrong to criticise the performance of students in Guinea!”

The 2017 edition of the national examination for high school leavers recorded a record failure rate of 72.65%. Camara therefore stated the obvious with his remark.

The MFWA believes that Camara’s suspension is too severe even if the authorities of the RTG deem the journalist’s comment to be indiscreet. We therefore urge the management of RTG to reconsider their decision and recall the presenter to work.

Mauritania – Freedom of Assembly under Siege                                     

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Mauritania – Freedom of Assembly under Siege                                     

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has observed with concern the Mauritanian authorities’ recent crackdown on dissent, particularly against opponents of the constitutional amendments which is the subject of a referendum scheduled for August 5, 2017.

Over the past one month, security forces in the country have run riot against citizens peacefully protesting against the proposed amendments or attempting to express their views on one national issue or the other.

Context of Recent Tension

On April 20, 2017, the Mauritanian government announced a constitutional referendum for July 15 before later postponing it to August 5. The announcement followed the rejection by the Senate of proposed amendments to the country’s 26 year-old constitution. Among other revisions, referendum seeks to validate a change in the design of the national flag and the national anthem and as well as abolish some key state institutions including the Senate.

As the referendum date approaches, the opposition have stepped up their “no” campaign while the authorities have also scaled up the repression, with alarming consequences for freedom expression and assembly in the country during the month of July.

Crackdown on Freedom of Expression and Assembly

In a press statement issued on July 17, 2017, the Mauritanian Freedom of Expression Observatory (OMLE) said it had recorded three major incidents of freedom of expression and assembly violations in a space of two weeks during the month.

It said on July 2, the authorities in Nouakchott prohibited, without any valid reason, a press conference planned by the Popular Initiative in Solidarity with the State of Qatar, a group that supports the Gulf state in its recent conflict with its Saudi-led neighbours.

“This is a flagrant violation of fundamental rights which guarantee citizens’ freedom to express their views and opinions,” said the OMLE.

On July 8, 2017, a leading member of the anti-slavery organisation,  Initiative de la Resurgence du Mouvement Abolitioniste (IRA), Ali Sow was arrested by security forces a day after he participated in an anti-referendum protest organised by the Opposition Front against the Referendum. Sow is being kept in an unknown destination.

The Coordination for Democratic Opposition, a coalition of parties opposed to the reforms, organised simultaneous demonstrations on July 26, 2017 in three districts of the capital Nouakchott – Arafat, Sebkha and Dar-Naim with bloody outcomes. The police intervened with clubs and tear gas, injuring and arresting many. The famous anti-reform campaigner and Senator, Ould Ghadda, for instance, was taken to the hospital unconscious. 

Denouncing the crackdown, the President of the political party, Mouvement pour le Changement Démocratique (MCD), Moussa Fall, who took part in the demonstrations, said: “Even the military regimes did not indulge in such practices. We are clearly falling under the yoke of an autocratic and dictatorial regime.”

The online news portal, mauriweb.com also reports a fourth incident which occurred on July 31 in the economic capital, Nouadhibou, where the police beat, dispersed and arrested protesters as President Abdel Aziz arrived there to campaign for the proposed amendments.

Appeals

A spokesperson for the for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Ravina Shamdasani, in a statement released on August 3, expressed concern about the clampdown.

“The authorities reportedly did not respond to the majority of requests for authorization for the protests and actively dispersed gatherings. In several cases, protest leaders were reportedly beaten up and a number of them were arrested,” Shamdasani said.

OHCHR urged the Government to ensure that the rights to peaceful assembly, to freedom of opinion and expression are fully respected adding that “These rights are particularly precious in a pre-electoral context.”

The MFWA joins its voice to the call for restraint on both sides, particularly, the government. We call on the authorities in Mauritania to investigate the violence reported to have been unleashed on peaceful demonstrators by the security agencies in order to rectify the lapses and offer redress to the victims of the violations.

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