Media personnel have been urged to move away from just covering organized programmes and events to doing critical research and investigations into issues that affect people. This is to ensure that the public and society are well informed into taking the right actions.
Addressing media participants at an ongoing oil and gas training workshop, Mr Fred Avornyo, Media Consultant with Penplusbytes, said journalists needed to cultivate the right sources who would give out the right information needed to build the country.
The six-day training workshop is being organized by International Institute for ICT Journalism (Penplusbytes) with support from Star Ghana
The workshop aims at building the skills and capacity of journalists, from the various regions across the country, in reporting on oil and gas issues.
It is part of Penplusbytes' continuous capacity building programme to equip Ghanaian journalists with the requisite skills and knowledge to better report on the growing significance of the oil and gas sector.
Mr Avornyo urged journalists to take the opportunity to acquire the necessary knowledge for their future work and to enable them to speak to the issues.
He said the training will deepen the understanding of journalists on key issues in the sector such as Laws and Contracts, policies and trends, and the value chain.
He said the challenge facing Ghana is how to develop and manage the oil resources well.
He said due to "societal pressures and structure of our system, politicians are tempted to mismanage funds and it is the duty of the media to expose such politicians by throwing the searchlight on them. Corrupt politicians and officials who misuse oil funds should be jailed."
Mr Avornyo urged journalists to focus on the management of the resources to be able to put politicians on their toes.
Mrs Mildred Siabi-Mensah, a reporter of Ghana News Agency, who is among the participants, said the training would afford them the opportunity to understand issues concerning oil better and to enhance their reportage.
The workshop consists of classroom lectures and a field trip to the Western region.
Among the key speakers were, Mr Emmanuel Kuyole, Africa Regional Coordinator for Revenue Watch, Professor Kwaku Appiah-Adu, Vice Dean, Central Business School, Central University College, and Mr Mohammed Amin, Executive Director for Africa Centre for Energy.
Source: GNA
International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org
No comments:
Post a Comment