Best Experiences from Journalism Tours

The state-sponsored Ghana Radio, a division of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), began on a dull note (it was the second radio station we'd visited, and worked pretty much the same way!) but developed into a rewarding trip. Mainly it was luck. We finally were broken into small groups of 5 or 6 (as opposed to the whole lot of 18) for our tour of the station. My group finished first, and were lounging outside getting some air and started chatting with a man who we learned worked as a show host. A few minutes into the chit-chat, he grabbed the guy of the group and whisked him inside to use his voice to record a piece. Us gals were kind of jealous! But he returned shortly and decided to come up with a jingle for us to do, swept us inside, and recorded it! The three of us who partook first said our names, "JD, Aysha, Annie" and then in unison said "And you're listening to...Passing Time with Greg". For fun, he asked if someone would wrap up that segment with the line "Oooo, I love it". Of course, I jumped at the chance, turned on my most sexy, sensuous voice, and let it ooooze. It was great, so much fun. He told us to listen for it when he planned on playing the clip, this morning, but unfortunately we were out of town in a very remote area and couldn’t…Still, it was thrilling.

Another great visit was to Public Agenda, a newspaper sponsored by an NGO in Ghana called ISODEC (Integrated Social Development Centre) “to promote sustainable development through working for good governance and giving a voice to the disadvantaged”. Finally, I felt pulled in and invigorated by one of our many visits and presentations! The adorable and articulate editor Amos Safo spoke with incredible passion, and was the first person this entire week to discuss why they did the work they do, what intention the newspaper is driven by (to influence government policy), and its core values. Unfortunately, but predictably, it’s struggling financially. They don’t have a printing press at their office, and actually just had to move to another office because their last one hiked up the rent. If anyone needs a new cause, or knows of some organization or committee looking to donate money (or a press!), send them here! And it’s worth checking out, at http://www.ghanaweb.com/public_agenda/. Even better is the NGO’s website, which is http://www.isodec.org.gh/. I am really hoping to write some stories for them during my time here over the next five weeks.