Ensure professional standards in coverage of December elections - GJA charges members

The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has charged media practitioners to exhibit high professional standards in the coverage of this year’s general election.

The association said the stakes were high and, therefore, there was the need to ensure balanced reportage and also address issues critically for a peaceful polls.

“We should desist from doing things that may cause confusion and violence.

We should not give our platforms to political extremists to foment trouble,” the GJA President, Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, said while addressing the media in Accra yesterday.

Initiatives

The GJA president outlined some initiatives the association would be embarking upon to include capacity-building and safety and security training to prepare members for the coverage of the elections.

Currently, he said the association, in collaboration with the US Embassy, was running a capacity-building programme on election reporting for members across the country.

Mr Dwumfour said that the first of such training exercises took place in Ho in the Volta Region in November last year for members in the Volta and Oti regions, and that the next phase would be held in Tamale, in the Northern Region.

He said the organisation was also exploring more opportunities to organise similar training programmes for other members.

“Capacity-building is on the front burner in our scheme of things this year.

Apart from election coverage, we are also exploring opportunities, both locally and internationally, to build the capacity of members.

We appeal to our local and international partners to support us in this regard,” Mr Dwumfour said. 

Media convention

The president further announced that about 1,000 media practitioners from across Africa and the rest of the world would be visiting the country for the 3rd African Media Convention scheduled to take place from May 15 to 18, this year.

He said an 18-member Local Organising Committee (LOC) had been inaugurated to oversee the successful hosting of the conference.

The committee is under the joint leadership of the GJA and the Ministry of Information, with UNESCO as a key partner.

“It is our firm conviction that at the end of it all, the country will pull out the best event.

 We count on the support of the media to achieve this goal,” Mr Dwumfour said.
 

Press Freedom Day 

The World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) is commemorated globally on May 3, every year.

He said usually, the WPFD was marked with a forum and flag-raising ceremony at the International Press Centre in Accra.

However, the president said this year’s event would be different.

“We are proposing that the event be organised in one of the regional capitals outside Accra.

We are considering all proposals, but the assurance we can give is that the occasion will be significant”.