Even though the GhanaWeb Reporter was officially launched on Tuesday, March 29, 2022, some privileged bloggers and citizen journalists were already hooked on the platform after they were selected among the winners of the GhanaWeb Reporter Contest in December 2021.
The GhanaWeb Reporter has gone through several stages of development since 2019 and the final phase resulted in the selection
Read full articleof 10 bloggers and citizen journalists at the Ghana Bloggers Summit for usability testing to evaluate its effectiveness.
Michael Agyapong Agyapa, a Professional Reporter managing the Daily News Ghana blog hosted on the news section of GhanaWeb, said, “I have been on different platforms but this is different. The dashboard is simple to use and unique; you don't need any special skills to operate it. With the earnings, it is super cool. Just report what's happening around you and earn. What else can we ask for?”
Agyapa was the ultimate winner of the GhanaWeb Reporter Contest and he took home a cash prize of GH¢2,000 and a Professional Reporter account that comes with a monetized blog among other features. He blogs about local news and current affairs.
“This has just pushed the world closer. What a great initiative for ordinary citizens to report and share their opinion. This is not just a platform, Ghanaweb Reporter is a community. How I wish this was birthed earlier,” he told GhanaWeb in an interview after the launch.
For Esther Xorlali Kugbey, award-winning blogger and consultant, the GhanaWeb Reporter “is a great platform and so far I’m enjoying it. It has given my blog and myself exposure,” she told GhanaWeb. She manages the entertainment and lifestyle blog, Xorlali, which is hosted on the entertainment section of GhanaWeb.
“So with the monetization aspect, to me as a Reporter, I love it because I can make some daily or weekly money from my blog either through my content or self advertising,” Xorlali, who is also a Professional Reporter, added.
Public Relations professional and award-winning blogger Harry Ahovi told GhanaWeb that: “The GhanaWeb Reporter has solved a lot of problems for me. I now get my reports published to a wider audience as compared to when it only gets published on my blog. My opinions and my brand is also getting noticed to the GhanaWeb audience.
“I believe this is a good initiative to help most of us get heard on issues affecting our daily lives. Personally, I feel proud being part of this and I thank GhanaWeb for selecting me among the few,” said Harry who is a Professional Reporter managing the community blog, Harry Graphic, on the news section of GhanaWeb.
Ebenezer Akandurugo, a writer and promoter, manages the community blog - Canard Afriq - that serves the northern regions of Ghana. “It's been good having a blog on GhanaWeb, the Reporter has helped me to bring to light stories that are life-saving and help to contribute to the development of communities,” he said about the Reporter.
French tutor Michael Djan admits that the GhanaWeb Reporter has “opened a way for me to share my knowledge, my experiences, my insights with the rest of the world… It’s delightful to find that your audiences read your content on the Reporter in numbers and really appreciate what you’re doing. I can honestly say the Reporter is now the most successful line in my writing portfolio.”
Djan manages the French Education GH blog hosted on the news section of GhanaWeb. He blogs about education in Ghana, specifically French education.
About GhanaWeb Reporter
GhanaWeb Reporter is Ghana’s first digital media sharing platform created to democratize journalism and empower content creators. Developed to give Ghanaian audiences direct access to a wide range of local content produced by citizen journalists and content creators, the GhanaWeb Reporter also empowers niche journalists and content creators to avoid the cost of owning websites, search engine optimization and web hosting as they are granted access to monetized niche blogs that earn them a share of advertising revenue and Self-Service Advertising created to promote local advertising.
Integrated into the GhanaWeb App, the award-winning platform which runs on both iOS and Android operating systems allows users to share videos, audio, files, images and text of news, entertainment and opinion content as well as their social media posts to the App at their convenience. The posts are screened and published on the user’s page and on the GhanaWeb Wall for a wider reach.
The GhanaWeb Reporter has two main accounts which are the Basic Reporter and the Professional Reporter. The Basic Reporter is the default account that gives users access to the basic features including GhanaWeb discounts and services like the GhanaWeb Self-Service Advertising, GhanaWeb Memorial and GhanaWeb Business Pages at no cost.
Users on the Basic Reporter account can share videos, audio, files, images and text of news, entertainment and opinion content as well as their social media posts to the App at their convenience. The posts are screened for content violation and if approved, they are simultaneously published on the user’s page and on the GhanaWeb Wall which has a mix of content including GhanaWeb Reporter posts, opinions and discussions, blog posts, photos of registered members and promotional content.
Each GhanaWeb Reporter user has a specialized page with a custom URL and they have the ability to engage followers through the App’s private messaging feature.
Meanwhile, the Professional Reporter account is subscription-based and offers premium GhanaWeb Reporter features including monetized niche blogs and a content performance dashboard to keep track of earnings from advertising revenue generated by their blogs. They also earn a share of the revenue from GhanaWeb’s Self-Service Advertising displayed on their blogs to promote local advertising.
Professional Reporters are classified into four categories: Blog Reporters, VIP Reporters and Advocacy Reporters. Blog Reporters consist of bloggers and citizen journalists who keep 50% of the local advertising revenue; VIP Reporters consist of celebrities and influencers who also keep 50% of the local advertising revenue; and Advocacy Reporters consist of charities, non-governmental organisations and agencies that are allowed to keep all the local advertising revenue generated by their monetized blogs. They also have access to directly publish content on their niche blogs and the GhanaWeb Wall without screening.
GhanaWeb Reporter Blogs
