Ten Ghanaian journalists have been awarded science reporting grant of £1000 each to produce impactful and compelling stories on selected issues in science, technology, and innovation.
The grants were awarded by the British High Commission in partnership with the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology (MEST) as part of the implementation of the UK-Ghana Science, Technology, and Innovation (ST&I) strategy.
Ms Harriet Thompson, the British High Commissioner to Ghana, and Dr Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, the Minister of Environment, Science, and Technology presented the grants at a closing ceremony of a five-day training for journalists on ST&I Reportage in Accra on Friday.
The grant awardees, including Ghana News Agency’s (GNA) Chief Reporter, Edward Acquah, would also receive further training on science communication at Imperial College in London to further enhance their experience in science communication.
Nine other awardees were from the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), New Times Corporation, Multimedia Group, Tobinco Media Group, Gaskiya FM in Bono East Region, Agrighanaonline.com, Diamond FM in the Northern Region and the Chronicle Newspaper.
The journalists won the grant through a competitive UK-Ghana ST&I Media Pitch for Science Journalists among 28 science communicators during the climax of the five-day workshop.
The Responsible Artificial Intelligence Lab (RAIL) of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) organised the workshop in partnership with the British High Commission in Ghana and MEST.
Ms. Thompson, said the UK-Ghana ST&I strategy, which was signed in 2023, recognised the important role of the media in advancing ST&I in Ghana.
She explained that the media was critical in helping to deliver ST&I commercialisation in Ghana – a pillar of that strategy – by raising awareness of ST&I and its role in the development of the nation.
“Help raise awareness of science, technology and innovation, what it’s doing already and what it could do, and help that enormous potential to be realised,” Ms. Thompson told the journalists.
She encouraged the Science reporting fellows to maximise the networks created and the knowledge of ST&I they had acquired to drive the success of ST&I ecosystem in the country by translating complex ST&I information to resonate with the people.
Dr Muhammed said the commercialisation of research outputs by the research institutions was among the key areas of focus for the Ministry and pledged to work with the UK Government to implement the ST&I strategy.
“We need to commercialise research outputs for the purposes of generating revenue for the research institutions for technological advancement,” he said.
Professor Jerry John Kponyo, Principal Investigator and Scientific Director at RAIL, KNUST, expressed concern that scientific research and innovations from research institutions in Ghana were not effectively communicated partly due to a disconnect between scientists and science communicators.
He indicated that capacity building for journalists in ST&I was necessary because ST&I reporting was a special field and required special skills.
Prof. Kponyo said with effective capacity building for journalists in the ST&I ecosystem and ST&I communication Ghana would become the hub of science communicators in the sub-region.
Mrs Linda Asante Agyei, the Vice President of the Ghana Journalists’ Association, said the exposure of journalists to the rudiments of ST&I including Artificial Intelligence (AI) would contribute to the development of different sectors of the country.
“Science reporting, we all know, is a very unique area that we need a better understanding to write stories.
Science and technology were the bedrock of development for every nation and journalists had a great responsibility in communicating the numerous research work done by scientists to enhance development,
Mrs Agyei appealed to institutions to help build the capacity of journalists in ST&I to enable them report appropriately, accurately, and compellingly to make meaningful impact in the development of the country.
She announced the revamping of the network of Science and Technology Communicators of Ghana and integrating the UK-Ghana ST&I reporting fellows to empower science communicators in the country.
GNA
