Media practitioners charged to keep track of promises made by politicians

Mr Roland Affail Monney, the President of the Ghana Journalists Association, has charged media practitioners to keep track of promises made by politicians and ensure that such people match their actions with the promises made.

He said this would bring about qualitative improvement in the field of journalism, which could make a wider difference in the world.

Mr Monney charged journalists at the opening of a two-day training in Accra on solutions journalism, for some selected journalists under the Mobilizing Media to Fight COVID-19 project.

It was organised by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) in collaboration with Journalists for Human Rights (JHR), Canada’s leading media development organisation.

The JHR project, through skills training and mentorship, empowers journalists to objectively and effectively report on COVID-19 human rights issues that would otherwise be ignored and unaddressed

He said journalism was far beyond amplifying what politicians say and as such journalists must sharpen the focus, especially on things around them to tell stories that were results oriented for the development of the country.

“My understanding of the topic we are discussing, solution journalism is for us to sharpen our focus on issues that will make life worth living for you and for our brothers and sisters and for humanity in general,” he said.

To this end, we expect the crop of modern journalists like you to use your power, medium, position, and connections to tackle these things. Journalism is far beyond what politicians say, he added.

The GJA President in citing several promises made by politicians in the past said there was the need to move away from such stories and focus on the solution angle stories.

Mrs Linda Asante Agyei, Vice President of the GJA, said the second phase of the project would be focusing on vaccines, COVID-19, solution journalism and human rights with more emphasis on women and children.

She mentioned that there was still quite a number of the population who have not been vaccinated due to their personal views and myths being circulated in the social media.

Mrs Asante Agyei stated that solutions Journalism was not new to “us because we have been doing it already, we just have to intensify it.”

Ms Zubaida Ismail, a Facilitator of the JHR Project, urged journalists to incorporate solutions journalism in their daily reportage to gain impact.