The media plays a critical role in national development and as such professional development of personnel who work in the industry cannot be left on the media institutions they work for or the journalists’ own resources alone.
Thus, the need for the stakeholders in the sector and the State to come together to improve the skills sets and the professional competence of journalists cannot be over emphasized.
The Minister for information, Mr Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, who was speaking at the opening of the Ministry’s Media Capacity Enhancement Programme (MCEP) to improve professional standard of journalists at Manhyia Palace in Kumasi, said stakeholders in the media industry must continue to help journalists to improve their skills.
He said the media could be strengthening to play its role in national development if all the stakeholders in the sector collaborated to grow the industry.
He, therefore, called on the stakeholders in the sector to support media in the country to grow.
He added that the training was expected to address the challenges faced by the media in a comprehensive manner instead of those [training programmes] they occasional received in periods such as elections.
On his part, the Asantehene, Otumfuor Osei Tutu II, said the media reflects society, which goes a long way to improve the well-being of the people and as such must be helped to play this critical role.
Prof. Kwamena Kwansah-Aidoo, the Rector of Ghana Institute of Journalism and the Chairman of the MCEP, said the media in the country was confronted with a plethora of problems such as staff capacity, professionalism and disregard of ethics which affect the quality of its [media] output.
He said these challenges have the potential to wane public trust and confidence in what they consumed from the media, adding that the programme was designed to mitigate these challenges to help the media continue its watchdog role
“The MCEP will minimize these challenges which have detrimental effects on the media’s ability to effectively play their watchdog roles and to help generate transformative change through facilitating access to appropriate and credible information”, he added.
Patience Anaadem &Adwoa Ocran, ISD
