New Narratives kicked off phase two of our Clean Air Reporting Project in August. The project will continue its successful partnership with Joy News, one of the country’s leading news organizations. Joy reporter Michael Asharley will be Joy’s New Narratives air pollution/climate change beat reporter. Michael will also host the Joy/New Narratives weekly radio program and podcast collaboration, Clean Air Report Ghana. Joy’s investigative team will also undertake in-depth reporting on the issue.

We will also partner with CitiFm, another leading newsroom, where Edwin Kwakofi will be the clean air beat reporter.

We are pleased to have senior reporters Jennifer Ambolley, Albert Oppong Ansah, Wonder Hagan and Prince Owusu rejoin the project along with ten new reporters from Ghana’s leading newsrooms: Caleb Ahinakwa with Asaase Radio, Clara Mlano with GBC TV, Mark Smith with AI Radio, Bolga; Mohammed Nurudeen, a freelancers in Kumasi; Kingsley Hope, New Times, Kumasi; Abigail Annoh, New Times, Accra; Emmanuel Damalie with the Daily Graphic; Ishmael Batoma with GhanaWeb and Joyce Gyekye with GBC Radio.

The project kicked off as Ghana’s growing air pollution crisis has gained increasing prominence in the country and around the world. We started with an exciting workshop that brought together the leading experts, activists and government officials who have helped make cleaning Ghana’s air a major priority for many citizens.

New Narratives wants to thank our funder, the Clean Air Fund, for making this possible.

At the New Narratives – Clean Air Fund workshop, journalists didn’t just learn, they created. Pitches were developed, scrutinized, and even approved by our editor right in the room. Our social media training partners InOld News were on hand to train reporters to adapt their content to social media videos and more engaging social media posts to take their journalism to new audiences online.

Participants were fully engaged, asking tough questions, and working with our brilliant facilitators to break down the science and health impacts of air pollution into powerful stories. From hands-on video activities to new audience engagement strategies, journalists left with tools, ideas, and approved stories that will make clean air reporting stronger than ever.