CJID GHANA MEDIA SUMMIT 2026: SEVEN YEARS OF STRENGTHENING INFORMATION INTEGRITY IN GHANA

Dapo Olorunyomi, CEO, CJID, discusses the state of journalism in West Africa, emphasising the need for a fundamental shift in how media is practised, taught, and understood to effectively support democracy. Key themes include: 1) The Democratic Mandate: Journalism is fundamentally tied to democracy, with constitutional frameworks in countries like Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Gambia tasking the media with creating accountability models. Dapo argues that the current struggles in journalism reflect the struggles of democracy itself. 2) Adapting to the Digital Age: The profession must move beyond the tools and principles of the agrarian and industrial eras to embrace the realities of the digital age. This includes navigating the challenges of: Information Integrity and AI: Recognising the transformative impact of the AI revolution on the practice and education of journalism. Platform Dominance: Acknowledging that news reporting, distribution, and financing must be handled within the framework of platformization, which often requires collective action rather than individual country efforts to challenge big tech. 3) Strategic Domains for the Next Decade: Dapo proposes shifting focus from simply strengthening individual newsrooms to building resilient democratic information ecosystems, covering specific areas such as: Safety and Sustainability: Addressing the expanded definition of journalist safety in the digital age and developing funding models for local media sustainability. Environmental and Climate Journalism: Prioritising coverage of issues like flooding, desertification, and energy transition. Geopolitical Cooperation: Improving regional collaboration, including addressing linguistic barriers between Francophone and Anglophone West Africa to foster better communication and understanding. Skills and Computational Journalism: Incorporating computational skills, open-source intelligence (OSINT), and database-driven investigation into journalism education and practice. Ultimately, Dapo concludes that traditional media development paradigms are no longer sufficient. To succeed in the next decade, the priority must be creating purposeful, knowledge-driven journalism that reinforces the information infrastructure necessary for functioning democracies. #Media #Journalism #Innovation #Africa