Young journalists have been advised to allow themselves to be mentored by their seniors to enable them receive the needed professional training.
Mrs Felicia McEwan Anamoah, Head of News, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC)-Obonu FMat Tema who gave the advice, said it was worrying that up and coming journalists did not allow themselves to be properly trained on the job.
Mrs Anamoah was speaking at the second Stakeholder Engagement and Workers’ Appreciation Day seminar organized by the Ghana News Agency, Tema Regional Office.
“I want to encourage the up and coming ones to be ready to learn and be corrected, the job is such that you won’t have somebody sitting you down to educate you, so when you are interested you learn from your senior but if not you will be left out,” she said.
She also bemoaned the recent unhealthy competition among some journalists for news especially in Tema Region; they rush for the news and get the fundamentals wrong, yet they rush to publish creating problem for all media practitioners.
Mrs Anamoah said it was about time that the media became united and present one voice to achieve its aim of holding leadership accountable while giving voice to the voiceless.
Mrs Dzifa Azumah, a Chief Editor, Ghana News Agency, urged journalists to develop interest in crime reporting, which was a specialized field of journalistic practice.
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Mrs Azumah who is also a legal practitioner said, crime stories were of human interest which met headlines as well as spread fast on social media.
This, she noted, was because sometimes it came with humour and acted as a stress reliever and it made people realized how society was changing.
She said the young journalist should build a reliable contact with the judiciary, because their doors were open to them. The lawyers, Police and Prosecutors, were always willing to explain legal issues to them as well as serve as news source for journalists.
Mrs Azumah, added that, a good court reporter should always be in the courtroom, to observe proceedings, take note of cases to enable them give accurate information, as well as take note of the adjourned dates.
Mr Francis Ameyibor, GNA-Tema Regional Manager on his part, said the outfit initiated the consistent stakeholder engagement as a proactive platform rolled-out for state and non-state actors to address national issues.
Mr Ameyibor said the event also served as a motivational mechanism to recognize the editorial contribution of reporters towards national development in general and growth and promotion of the Tema GNA as the industrial news hub.
“This platform adopted by the GNA-Tema Office is a progressive movement from static Journalistic practice to pragmatic journalism which is action driven for results.
“Modern journalistic practice demands for progressive practitioners with a high sense of intuition for developmental news.
He added that the era where journalists seat down in the newsroom waiting for assignment or for event organizers to invite them for coverage was long gone.
“It is an anachronistic journalistic practice; you can’t set agenda when you virtually depend on speeches for news”.
The event was graced by Dr Stephen Ayisi Addo, Programmes Manager National AIDS/STI Control Programme (NACP) and Madam Joyce Benedicta Afutu, Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs at the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE).
The second GNA-Tema Stakeholder Engagement and Workers Appreciation Day seminar was attended by the National Commission for Civic Education, GBC Obonu FM, and other officials from state and non-state institutions.
