A cross section of participants at the workshop
The Communications Directorate of the Pilgrims Affairs Office of Ghana (PAOG) yesterday hosted a workshop on ‘Responsible Hajj Reporting for Journalists.’
Media and Marketing Consultant, Mohammed Amin Lamptey, who is also the Director of Communications of the PAOG, took the participants, some of whom came from Kumasi, through rudiments of reporting including ethics and accurate reportage bereft of the minefield of slander and libel, the constituents of defamation.
Participants also learnt about the various stages of the Hajj, as a means of priming them for effective reporting on the subject.
For practitioners who graced the workshop, the session was a rare opportunity to listen to a man who has not only lectured and still doing so but also a practitioner in Public Relations (PR), Marketing and Journalism.
Amin Lamptey’s exceptional performance in launching a damage control campaign for Marwako Restaurant when the company encountered a crisis and successfully so, added to his pedigree.
Reporting on Hajj, he entreated the journalists to have sufficient knowledge about the rituals which constitute the annual religious exercise. This way, he went on, their reports would be spared the inaccuracies which bedevil some reports on the subject by persons with shallow or little understanding of the Hajj.
Specialisation on subjects enhances reportage on subject areas. He therefore called on media practitioners to learn the nuances of areas they cherish.
Clear language devoid of ambiguities so the target audience or viewership as the case maybe would understand the message is a critical option he stressed in the Powerpoint presentation.
Those who appear on radio programmes must understand the subjects about which they discuss and avoid the pitfalls of noisy and empty orations as it is common these days, Alhaji Mohammed Amin Lamptey entreated his audience.
The Director asked participants to be abreast with technology so that they would not be found wanting in the application of modern media as driven by hi-tec.
In his reaction, one of the participants said, “I felt like I was in a journalism lecture hall.”
Participant after participant expressed appreciation for the rare opportunity to be briefed in an abridged fashion the nuances of journalism, aspects of which they were learning for the first time.
The immediate past Director of Communications of the Ghana Hajj Board, A.R. Gomda, who chaired the workshop, lauded Alhaji Mohammed Amin Lamptey for a wonderful presentation as he encouraged journalists to specialise in the many areas of human endeavours. This way, they would learn the language and nuances of such fields and report from a standpoint of knowledge.
The questions and answers session afforded the participants the opportunity to have their concerns addressed.
Certificates were awarded to participants at the end of the programme.
A Daily Guide Report