Media practitioners urged to prioritise lives over election coverage
Speakers at a three-day election reporting workshop have urged media practitioners to prioritise their lives over any assignment during this year’s elections.
According to them, no news or issue was worth their lives and must pay attention to their security when covering this year’s elections.
The panelists, Mr Bright Nana Amfoh, Editor, Metro TV, Omaru Sanda Amadu, City FM, Channel One TV, Mrs Linda Asante-Agyei, Vice President, Ghana Journalist Association (GJA), Evans Aziamor-Mensah from Fact Check Gh.
The workshop was organised by Reporters Without Boarders (RSF) in collaboration with the Ghana Journalist Association for journalists and photojournalists across the country in the print, TV, radio and the new media.
Mr Amfoh, who spoke on the topic ‘Safety of Journalists during elections,’ tasked journalists to leave the reporting scene immediately when they felt threatened and report the issue to their superiors.
According to him, media practitioners must always use their judgment in the line of duty by analysing the terrain of the event to plan their work.
Mr Amfoh further indicated that journalists must be careful when they were assigned to volatile locations.
Mr Amadu, who spoke on the topic ‘Risk of election reporting and what journalists must know,’ told media practitioners to leave the assignment scene when the situation became chaotic.
He explained that media practitioners were expose to danger due to the nature of their work, which involve exposing corruption and bringing people in power to account.
Mrs Asante-Agyei, who spoke on the ‘Gate keeping role of journalists,’ advised them to be professional and keep to the guildlines and ethics of the profession in their reportage, especially in this year’s general election.
Mr Aziamor-Mensah urged media practitioners not be in a hurry to report but fact-checked to ensure the authenticity of the information they put out.
The Country Representative of RSF, Ms Zubaida Ismail, added that the programme was to educate journalists on safety tips to guide them in their reportage in the 2024 general election.
“This year’s general election is very crucial for all the political parties and for Ghanaians in general so RSF deemed it fit to equip Journalists and photojournalists with the requisite tools to help them in their reportage,” Ismail cautioned
BY VICTOR A. BUXTON
