Publications

Are Climate Finance Mechanisms (e.g., Carbon Credits, Climate Adaptation Funds) Benefiting Those Who Need Them the Most?

Globally and in Africa, there is growing concern that climate finance is neither adequate nor equitably distributed. This…

Disinformation Index Report for West Africa 2025 – Abridged Version

Disinformation is rapidly emerging as one of the most serious threats to democratic stability and governance in West…

Why Ghana’s Children Need Media and Information Literacy – Now More Than Ever

As screen time surges among Ghana’s youth, so too does the risk of mis/disinformation, digital manipulation and harmful…

The Economic Fallout of Climate Change: How Ghana’s Key Sectors are Bearing the Brunt

Climate change is increasingly threatening Ghana’s economic stability and growth. Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, prolonged droughts, and extreme…

Position Paper on Ghana’s National Decentralisation Policy & Strategy

This Position Paper on Ghana’s National Decentralisation Policy and Strategy (2025–2029) presents Penplusbytes’ comprehensive recommendations for a citizen-centred,…

The Urgency of Now: Why Ghana must scale up Climate Adaptation and how it’s leading the way

"If we want our continent to thrive, we have to adapt to climate change. And, to achieve this,…

Report on Review of Ghana’s Legal Framework for Addressing Misinformation and Disinformation

This report is an attempt to address a gap in the solution options for addressing disinformation in Ghana…

AHEAD AFRICA – Ghana Elections 2024 Report

During Ghana's 2024 elections, Penplusbytes, in collaboration with the European Partnership for Democracy’s (EPD) AHEAD Project, launched the…

Assessing Ghana’s 2025 Budget: Digitalization as a Catalyst for Inclusive Growth and Governance.

In today’s rapidly evolving world, digitalization is no longer a luxury but a necessity for economic growth, efficient…

A Scoping Report on Disinformation Trends in Ghana’s 2024 Elections Pre- and Post-Elections

This report examines disinformation trends before, during and after Ghana's2024 presidential and parliamentary elections. It highlights false narratives,…

Baseline Survey Report – Voters’ Compass Project on Political Party Manifestos

This baseline survey report, conducted as part of the Voters’ Compass project, examines the role of political manifestos…

2024 Annual Report

This report highlights our projects, innovations, achievements and challenges in the year 2024. It outlines how progressive the…

Enhancing Health Literacy in Ghana: The Role of Media and Information Literacy

To help people navigate the complicated health information landscape in Ghana which is muddied with myths, half-truths, falsehoods,…

Understanding the Economics of Disinformation on Ghana’s Democracy

Discussions centered around disinformation and misinformation have been topical in recent times, particularly as a result of the…

Tech-Driven Climate Action in Ghana: Making A Case for the Use of Artificial Intelligence

Taking cognizance of the wide range of capabilities of digital technologies such as AI, Penplusbytes, a civic tech…

Ensuring Accountability: Political Campaign Finance Monitoring in Ghana

This publication discusses a model that civil society organizations (CSOs) in Ghana can adopt for monitoring campaign finance,…

Putting the Spotlight on Ghana’s AI Strategy

Across the world, governments are taking cognizance of the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) – its transformative potential,…

Ghana’s Emission Levy: A commitment towards reducing carbon emissions or another avenue for revenue generation?

Following the passage of the Emissions Levy Act, 2023 (Act 1112) into Law on February 1 2024, there…

Navigating the Digital Landscape: Charting the Course of Digital Citizenship in Ghana

From a civic tech perspective, this document focuses on how Ghanaians are harnessing the power of the digital…

Social Media Regulation for Children: Is Ghana Ready?

Undoubtedly, social media and other associated digital technologies provide opportunities for social and economic transformations that benefit all…

2nd Quarter Social Media Index Report – July 2023

The report reviews the outlook and performance of Ghanaian Radio stations, TV stations and Newspapers based on their…

The Role of MIL as a key strategy towards dispelling Climate Change Misinformation

This study explores the role of media and information literacy as a key strategy towards dispelling climate change…

Assessing the Contemporary Ghanaian Media: A study of the Opportunities and Challenges of the media post Covid-19 pandemic

The media’s role in shaping understanding, bringing issues to the fore and generally contributing to the development of…

Making Inroads – Learnings from Penplusbytes and DW Akademie’s Media and Information Literacy Initiatives in Ghana

This abridged report aims to share the lessons learnt from Penplusbytes/DW Akademie MIL project; developing and implementing MIL…

Ghana Card Over 1000 interchanges, Is Dr. Bawumia misunderstood?

This is the first edition in our newly developed Periodic Rapid Analysis (PRA) of happenings in and around…

1st QUARTER SOCIAL MEDIA INDEX REPORT – MARCH 2022

The report reviews the outlook and performance of Newspapers, Radio and TV stations in Ghana based on their…

Domestic Philanthropy – A panacea for Community Development

Penplusbytes set out to conduct a dipstick survey to find out the enablers for Ghanaians and organizations and…

Policy Brief on Digital Campaigns and Elections: what works?

New media has brought about significant changes in the campaign strategies of political parties, candidates, and political organizations;…

Policy Brief on Electoral Violence Prevention: Strategies that work

No country is immune to electoral violence so long as citizens hold different political ideologies and are affiliated…

Policy Brief on critical Steps in ensuring responsible media coverage of Elections 2020

Coverage of elections by the media comes with its own challenges which require adequate preparation by media houses…

Policy Brief on Manifestos and the search for accountability

Do manifestos matter in our electoral process? Do manifestos inform voters’ choices? Find answers to these and more…

Policy Brief on Enhancing inclusive participation of PWDs in elections: challenges and solutions

This policy brief is a product of the Penplusbytes Webinar Series on Elections 2020 which aims at finding…

Critical Steps in Bridging the Implementation Gaps of the Disability Act for Inclusivity

Penplusbytes’ “Deliver – Quality Media Amplifying Vulnerable Voices” with funding from STAR Ghana Foundation (www.inclusivitygh.org) is adding its…

Penplusbytes Safeguarding Policy

Penplusbytes is an equal opportunity employer and the organisation’s outlook is to ensure the protection of people, particularly…

1ST QUARTER SOCIAL MEDIA INDEX REPORT – MARCH 2019

The March 2019 report reviews the outlook and performance of Newspapers, Radio and TV stations in Ghana based…

Penplusbytes 2018 Annual Report

2018 presented a great year for Penplusbytes. We saw some exciting innovations in newsrooms all the way through…

3RD QUARTER SOCIAL MEDIA INDEX REPORT – SEPTEMBER 2018

The September 2018 report reviews the outlook and performance of Newspapers, Radio and TV stations in Ghana based…

2nd QUARTER SOCIAL MEDIA INDEX REPORT – JUNE 2018

The June 2018 report reviews the outlook and performance of Newspapers, Radio and TV stations in Ghana based…

METOGU Anti-corruption Report

The Metogu project is a systematic and on-going appraisal research report of the 2016 manifesto promises of the…

Media Perspectives On Fake News In Ghana

Based on the survey of 154 newsrooms nationwide, a major finding of the study points to the fact…

1ST QUARTER SOCIAL MEDIA INDEX REPORT – MARCH 2018

The March 2018 report reviews the outlook and performance of Newspapers, Radio and TV stations in Ghana based…

PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY INDEX

Penplusbytes' Ghana Public Service Delivery Index is a report to track service delivery in Ghana’s Public sector with…

4th QUARTER SOCIAL MEDIA INDEX REPORT – DECEMBER 2017

Penplusbytes’ 4th Quarter Social Media Index (SMI) report 2017 reports the extent to which Ghana’s traditional media are…

2ND QUARTER SOCIAL MEDIA INDEX REPORT- JUNE 2017

Penplusbytes’ 2nd Quarter Social Media Index (SMI) report 2017 reports the extent to which Ghana’s traditional media are…

4TH GOVERNANCE SOCIAL MEDIA INDEX REPORT

Six months after the 2016 elections, the 1st Governance Social Media Index Report in 2017 ascertains post-election use…

1st Quarter Social Media Index Report – March 2017

Premised on a set objective to enhance the work of journalists using technology in Ghana, the 1st Quarter…

Ghana Elections 2016: The Game Changing Role of Tech and New Media Tools

Ghana passed yet another democratic test when it conducted what is widely described as a very successful elections…

SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL CAMPAIGNING IN GHANA

There is no denying the fact that the advent of social media has resulted in the most substantial…

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTE’S INTERNATIONAL OBSERVER MISSION TO GHANA’S DECEMBER 7 PRESIDENTIAL AND LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS

This preliminary statement is offered by the international observer delegation fielded by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) to…

3RD GOVERNANCE SOCIAL MEDIA INDEX REPORT

This edition of the Governance Social Media Index (GSMI) provides an assessment of which political parties and leaders…

3rd Quarter Social Media Index Report – October 2016

Premised on the same objectives as the 1st and 2nd Quarter reports, Penplusbytes’ 3rd Quarter Social Media Index…

Governance Social Media Index Report – September 2016

The second edition of the GSMI, compiled on 30th September, 2016, builds on the first edition with a…

Social Media Index (SMI) Report – June 2016

Penplusbytes, a leader in enhancing the work of journalists and promoting effective governance using technology in Africa, has…

Governance Social Media Index Report 2016

The use of social media in Ghana, one of the first countries in sub-Saharan Africa to have Internet…

Survival Strategies and Ideas for Newsroom

This book is the outcome of informed perspectives on the application of new digital technologies in the newsroom.…

Penplusbytes Social Media Index Report

This SMI report takes a look at the performance of established newspapers, radio and TV stations in Ghana…

Collection of Web 2.0 Products and Services

There is no standard definition for web 2.0. We can however look at it is a cluster of…

Cool Tools for ICT Journalism

Welcome to tools of our trade. We furnish you with useful information about some of the latest ICT…

ICT Journalism Bibliography

This paper shares a list of sources that could be used in your research work on various areas…

Drones for Development in Ghana

Ghana has over the years made tremendous progress towards achieving accelerated development with the use of ICT and…

Data Journalism in Ghana

The concept of Data Journalism in Ghana is very much in its infant stage though the practice is…

SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE 2013 KENYA GENERAL ELECTIONS

Social Media is almost as powerful as the traditional media such as radio, television and print media in…

#HackAgainstEbola Final Report

#HackAgainstEbola is a campaign by the Global Editors Network from November 2014 to January 2015 in Ghana, Senegal,…

MOBILE APPLICATION FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE IN GHANA: ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN AND OPPORTUNITY

Ghana has a vibrant mobile development landscape as a result of increase in growth and interest among young…

GAMES FOR DEVELOPMENT IN GHANA

The development of electronic games in Africa is rapidly growing and this growth is fueled by the popularity…

Emergent Confrontational Political Subculture: A content Analysis of Media Coverage of Violence of the 2012 General Elections in Ghana

A Journey Through 10 Countries – Online election coverage in Africa

Guidelines For Reporting Elections In Liberia

La Couverture Des Élections Au Niger

Because Accountability Counts – A Journalist’s Guide to Covering Post Elections in Ghana

Case Study: Enabling Governance and Economic Transparency in West Africa Using New Media

A baseline study of oil and gas media reporting in Ghana

Baseline survey of mining, oil and gas reporting in liberia

Using Technology to Promote Good Governance and Economic Transparency in West Africa

Ghana Elections 2012

A documentation of the 2012 Ghana Elections