GJA executive hold forum to commemorate first year in office
The Ministry of Information (MoI) is set to position the media to effectively play its watchdog role in a conducive environment to consolidate the country’s democracy for national development.
The Deputy Minister of Information, Fatimatu Abubakar, who spoke on behalf of the sector minister gave this assurance at a forum to commemorate first anniversary of current Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Administration.
Held on the theme; ‘Current trends in Ghana’s Media Landscape,’ it brought together stakeholders in the inky fraternity.
Ms Abubakar said the ministry would support any initiative that sought to improve on the work of journalists in the country.
“For as long as we have offers that are intended to make the Ghanaian journalist better, we will support that initiative and that is why we are here to reiterate the fact that the ministry is not working as an island.
We have collaborated with the Right to Information Commission to provide journalists with the needed backing to get information for their stories,” she added.
The deputy minister tasked the media, especially the traditional media houses to take the advantage of the internet to compete effectively and increase revenue.
Making a presentation on the topic: ‘New media and traditional media: issues of ethics and professionalism,’ the Director-General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) Prof. Amin Alhassan said new media commonly referred to as social media, was “a double-edged sword.”
He explained that the services provided by such platforms were “gambles of information and misinformation” with the latter causing irreparable damage to victims.
Prof. Alhassan expressed concern over experienced media practitioners within traditional media earned abysmally low salaries as against the lavish rewards for the youth engaged in social media.
For him, the current regulatory framework of the media needed to be reviewed to cater for the needs of today’s media landscape to help address the challenge.
This, in his opinion calls for change in some regulatory frameworks to meet the fast-growing media landscape.
The President of GJA, Mr Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, expressed gratitude to the leadership of the Association for supporting the programme.
BY BENEDICTA GYIMAAH FOLLEY
