By Clement Akoloh
Oyarifa, Accra – The Private Newspapers and Online News Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG) has held a Capacity Building Workshop for its members on Responsive National Security Reporting.
The workshop, which aims to support accurate, responsible and professional reporting on contemporary security issues, forms part of efforts to strengthen the media’s role as a strategic partner in promoting public awareness, national cohesion, democratic governance and public safety.
Present at the workshop were the Deputy Government Spokesperson, Hon. Shamima Muslim and the National Security Coordinator, COP Osman Abdul-Razak.
Welcoming participants, the President of PRINPAG, Mr. David Tamakloe, expressed profound gratitude to the National Security Council Secretariat for extending a hand of partnership to the Association.
He said “a tree does not make a forest” and noted that the decision by the Secretariat to resource the capacity building speaks volumes about recognition of shared destiny between the security agencies and the press.
Mr. Tamakloe congratulated selected members who were chosen for the training, saying they were selected because of the Association’s belief in their capacity to lead in responsible security reporting.
He urged participants to be ambassadors of the knowledge to be acquired and to share lessons with colleagues.
The PRINPAG President traced the history of the Association, noting that since 1991, even before the 1992 Constitution was promulgated that birthed the Fourth Republic, PRINPAG has been the conscience of the private press, providing technical and financial support to practitioners with little resources and maintaining standards and ethics when it was easier to abandon them.
Mr. Tamakloe however bemoaned what he described as abandonment of the media, saying in the quest to control or sideline the media, a monster has been created and set loose.
“We have been fed a dangerous lie that a chaotic digital space will take over, that the traditional mainstream press is dying. Let us not be deceived. There is no alternative to the traditional media. The harshness we witness on social media is not journalism,” he stated.
He cautioned against throwing the journalism profession under the bus simply because of failure to finance its growth, quoting philosopher George Santayana that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Mr. Tamakloe said while it is agreed that democracy is expensive, there has been failure to provide regulations that protect the sanctity of the media industry.
“We can legislate to protect the media not to control but to separate truth from false truth. As the famous saying goes, sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants. Let us shine that sunlight through a well-resourced, well-regulated and fiercely independent press,” he added.
He stressed that media associations like PRINPAG must be supported, noting that “the pen is mightier than the sword, but the pen without ink is useless.”
“Let us provide the true funding, true regulation and true partnership. A clear conscience is a soft pillow. Let integrity be our pillow as we sleep at night,” he urged members.
He encouraged members to continue to uphold the principles of accuracy, responsibility, professionalism and conflict-sensitive journalism in coverage of security-related matters and to participate actively, ask questions and build networks.
The workshop brought together selected members of PRINPAG, facilitators and resource persons drawn from the security sector.
Source: africanewsradio.com
