Obama fever rocks Ghana

Ghanaians are anxiously awaiting the arrival of US President Barack Obama on July 10 2009. The capital is full of signboards of him as well as his paraphenalia selling like hot cake along the streets of Accra, the capital.

Africans pay tribute to MJ

Africans are paying tribute to the King of Pop – Michael Jackson. This nice video by AfricaNews captures the mood across selected countries on the continent.

MJ’s death overwhelms search engines

Search engines – Google and Yahoo – were stretched to the core following the death of Michael Jackson last week. The two known search engines said online traffic worldwide including Africa recorded dramatic increase.  Google’s Director of Product Management, R.J. Pittman told Channel Web that his outfit interpreted the numerous Jackson queries as an attack on its platform. Google’s news pages according to Itnewsafrica.com “were inaccessible for a time on Thursday night as news of Jackson’s death broke.”

Good news for Africans with river blindness

Victims of onchocerciasis could soon breathe a sigh of relief as a clinical trial begins in three African countries of a drug that could eliminate the disease. The trial takes place in Ghana, Liberia and DR Congo, Research and Training in Tropical Diseases and Wyeth announced via a teleconference at the WHO office in Accra, Ghana.

Africa mourns Michael Jackson

How I covered Jackson’s death for my news network:

Michael was hailed throughout the world

Africa joins the rest of the world to mourn the sudden death of the King of Pop – Michael Jackson. Reports reaching AfricaNews editorial desk indicate that Jackson’s death was the major news item featured on most radio and television stations across Africa and on the front pages of top newspapers. The major headline of Nigeria’s politically dominated newspaper, This Day, said: “Africa: Grief Across the World As Michael Jackson Dies”, while Ghana’s politically oriented private newspaper – the Daily Guide – cast their headline thus: “Michael Jackson is Dead.”

Twitter aids in spreading falsehood

Breaking tweets has been instrumental on Iran

Social networking websites are fast becoming the backbones of the new media. Twitter has over the years proven to be a “good” source of news from locals and not only feeds from mainstream media houses. The skirmishes surrounding the just held elections in Iran has whipped up a lot of interest in the use of Twitter if not doubled it users. Most of the news updates I am getting from Tehran in Iran are from twitter followers – some directly on the ground and others monitoring from other media sources.

Join the discussion on Manipulated Facts

The advent of the New Media has made it possible for any news to spread around the world at top speed. And it is at least as badly protected against manipulation and hoaxes as print media.