Tuesday, October 28, 2008

GCGL SENSISTISES REPORTERS TO ELECTORAL CHALLENGES (PAGE 16)

THE management of Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) has expressed its determination to ensure fair and balanced reportage in the run-up to the December 7 polls.
It has therefore charged all regional correspondents and reporters to ensure that they meet those requirements as a way of contributing the company’s quota to a successful and peaceful election this year.
The General Manager (GM), Newspapers of the GCGL, Mr Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh, stated this during an interaction with the editorial staff of the company from the three northern regions in Tamale on Saturday.
The interaction formed part of management’s decision to sensitise the editorial staff to emerging issues in the political landscape as well as the need to adopt pragmatic strategies to deal with them.
Mr Boadu-Ayeboafoh said it was imperative for journalists in the region to uphold and promote multiparty democracy.
He noted that this year’s elections posed enormous challenges to regional correspondents and reporters since there were eight flag bearers vying for the presidency.
Mr Boadu-Ayeboafoh further entreated the editorial staff to focus on balanced and fair reportage.
“This therefore requires that we relate fairly to all the political parties and activists without pandering to the interest of any”, he further stressed.
According to him, much as political parties provided the needed platform for linking social groups with the government they must also be kept on their toes.
“Therefore, the electorate must be well-informed since an ill-informed, mal-informed or mis-informed electorate cannot hold their representatives accountable to their mandate,” he stated.
He equally advised the staff to ensure that they minimised the use of adjectives and colouring of stories, particularly describing the crowd and attendance of party rallies.
According to him, such reportage could give the journalist away and risked being tagged as biased or sympathetic towards a particular political party.
The Political Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mr Kobby Asmah, urged reporters and regional editors to contribute more meaningfully to the growth of the paper by reporting accurately and ensuring timeliness in the delivery of stories.
‘We must work with a sense of urgency and commitment to maintain our leading role in the newspaper industry not only in the country but also in the sub-region,’ he advised.
He equally stressed the need for reporters to report on issues that were peculiar to their respective regions in order to boost the circulation of the paper as well as attract front pages.
Mr Asmah indicated that henceforth regional reporters would be required to link up with the Editorial Department in Accra on their daily itinerary in order to meet set targets.
He entreated them to update their respective telephone directories as well as strengthen their news sources to facilitate their work.
“In view of the proliferation of newspapers we must adopt pragmatic attitudes towards our work in order to stay ahead of our competitors,” he stated.

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