The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu has reminded Media practitioners in Ghana that the freedom guaranteed them by the 1992 Constitution is not absolute.
He cautioned that despite the repeal of the Criminal Libel Law, which provides space to perform a watchdog role, the Media could be the subject of Libel Litigation at the Law Court, should journalists fail to discharge their work professionally.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu made the observation at the launch of the Media Capacity Enhancement Programme in Kumasi.
Correspondent Nicholas Osei-Wusu reports that the Media Capacity Enhancement Programme, is the culmination of about two years of engagement among key stakeholders in the Media Industry at the instance of the Ministry of Information to develop a programme to support the Ghanaian Media.
It was out of this initiative that an Independent Working Group under the Chairmanship of the Rector of the Ghana Institute of Journalism, Professor Kwamena Kwansah-Aidoo, after conducting a skills-gap analysis of practicing journalists, developed a curriculum for training Media Practitioners.
About 250 Media Practitioners are expected to be trained in 2022.
60 selected Media practitioners from across the media ecosystem print, electronic, etc., Public, Private sectors constitute the first batch who are scheduled to go through four days of intensive training in specialized courses.
During the opening ceremony, which was held at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi, Goodwill messages were presented by the Presidents of the Private Newspapers Publishers Association, PRINPAG, Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association, GIBA, Institute of Public Relations, IPR among other stakeholder organizations.
Chairman of the National Media Commission, Yaw Boadu Ayeboafo, disclosed that the Commission is receiving an increasing number of complaints from concerned members of the Ghanaian society about certain unethical conducts by some media Practitioners and Media outlets.
Touching on the theme of the programme, the Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah noted that ”because of the critical role of the media in national development, Practitioners require regular upgrade of their competencies to stay professional to deliver optimally”.
”Change is constant, so let’s keep learning to keep up with the change”, he noted.
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu noted with concern the low attention the nation is giving to the needs of the media compared with the three arms of government.
The media on the other hand must play its role more professionally to engender public trust, Otumfuo Osei Tutu noted.