Call on media to foster unity

A Deputy Minister for Education, Dr Joseph Annan, has urged journalists to use the power of the media to foster unity among Ghanaians and shy away from tendencies that may polarise the country.
“The media must be used to assist our development efforts,” he said, and challenged all stakeholders to adopt a transformational shift to the pressing needs and aspirations of the country.
The Dr Annan was speaking at the launch of the 50th anniversary of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) in Accra yesterday, on the theme: “50 years of Ghana Institute of Journalism: Defining Africa’s Communication Agenda”.
He said the theme for the celebration was in accordance with the vision of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, whose intention to establish the institution was to ensure that Ghana equally rubbed shoulders with the rest of the world.
“This compelled Nkrumah to declare in 1965 that the media should not be used just for entertainment but the vanguard for societal transformation,” he emphasised, and described GIJ as on of the foremost journalism institutions in Africa.
“GIJ since its inception has played a vital role in the country’s international image which is hugely attributed to the media,” he said, and expressed the government’s unflinching commitment to build a harmonious relationship with the media.
Dr Annan observed that a credible media certainly reflected the quality of information processed for public consumption and asked journalists to understand the need for their role in the country’s development agenda in the wider picture.
He, therefore, urged journalists to specialise in specific fields of endeavour to improve the quality and standard of the profession, promising that the government was committed to ensuring that the standard and quality of tertiary education improved tremendously.
The Managing Director of Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), Mr Ibrahim Awal, a past student of the institute, observed that the unique role that the institute had played in the country’s development was immeasurable.
“We need journalists to lead in the development agenda of the country as we move higher as a nation,” he stated, and cautioned journalists that in writing articles, the interest of the nation must be paramount.
He made a pledge that the Graphic Communications Group would support the institute with GH¢10,000 to address some of its challenges.
The acting Rector of GIJ, Mr Kweku Rockson, said the goal of the institute was to provide students with quality tuition with emphasis on research as the basis of the country’s development.
He said although the institute was still constrained in terms of space, with assistance from the GETFund, it hoped to increase the number of student intake yearly.
The institute, he said, had reformed its curriculum to reflect the changes in the communication industry and was committed to playing its role in the country’s young democracy.
An anniversary cloth was launched and a logo unveiled to celebrate the occasion, which ends in October, 2009.
Some of the activities outlined for the celebration are a homecoming health walk, lectures, open day exhibition, fun games, community outreach, a dinner and a thanksgiving service to climax the celebration.