Ghana @59: …Journalists provided tipper bucket to enable coverage of event (photos)

In Ghana, today, the journalist has been taken for granted in many ways. They are treated as second-class dignitaries at events where they have been legitimately invited. Vehicles that pick them for assignments mostly are not the best. It must be noted that the journalist is equally important as all people who take part in all events and therefore must be accorded the needed welfare and safeguards. It takes the journalist to initiate and follow-through on everything needed for the citizenry to know from interviews to documentary requests, turning raw data and information into easily digestible knowledge for public consumption.
 
 

The press at the trunk of the vehicle
One time Irish playwright, poet and author, Oscar Wilde said “by giving us the opinions of the uneducated, journalism keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community.” This is more than true because without the journalist, mankind will be put in total darkness, by way of dissemination of information. The Journalist provides the fundamentals for effective public sphere which also promotes dynamic society and democracy.
 

All sectors and hierarchies of governance and even the media need the journalist. The security, judiciary and indeed all sectors depend heavily on the journalist for the projection of their efforts. His or her role in exerting the needed pressure for societal fairness and accountability cannot be over emphasized.
Ghana Journalists Association (the GJA), must ensure that these noble professionals who are providing special impetus to our democracy do not unnecessarily kowtow to the pressure of their plights. When this happens, it would obviously lead to an era where such badly treated journalists in the system may conform and forgo their journalistic principles and ethics. A situation that may be a disaster for the media in Ghana. Journalism in fact, is a very noble profession, to say the least; no wonder the media is placed fourth, within the governance structure of the country. They should stand out as professionals who would not only be used and dumped afterwards, but, rather, let their importance be felt everywhere.
Journalists must stand and speak against these sort of treatments.
#JournalismIsNotACrime.