SWAG boss with Afadzinu and Charles Osei Asibey (L)
President of Ghana Table Tennis Association and Marketing, Communications Manager of Stanbic, Mawuko Afadzinu, has charged sports journalists to demonstrate excellence in their work as they demand from athletes and officials.
Afadzinu, who is also the President of Institute of Public Relations (IPR) and a former lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Journalism, was speaking at the third Betway-SWAG Sports Journalists Conference at the Best Western Hotel in Takoradi, where over 60 sports journalists from the Western Region and Western North Region attended.
Speaking on ‘The Impact of Media on Sports’, he said sports journalists were the transition between powerful platform and powerful sentiments. He indicated that sports journalists brought like-minded people together so the principle of the athlete for success must be the guide for the journalist, hence admonishing sports journalists to invest in their craft just like the athlete.
He revealed that the major challenge for the development and promotion of sports in Ghana was innovation and funding. He therefore challenged federation heads to be very innovative in creating compelling content and tapping into the necessary contacts to raise investment for their respective sports.
Afadzinu added, “The confluence of sports and media, was an outcome that few could match,” hence the need for stakeholder engagement.
General Manager – Digital at Media General, Michael Oti Adjei, charged sports journalists to consider major tournaments as major career landmarks and not time for leisure, thus admonished sports journalists to adequately prepare for sports events whatsoever.
He encouraged them to have a long-term plan and preparation, and research wide before embarking on the coverage of sports events.
SWAG President Kwabena Yeboah admonished sportscasters, particularly the younger ones to concentrate on building a solid and resounding brand that would generate huge income in future, and not necessarily concentrate and focus solely on money as reasons for pursuing sports journalism.
The Sports Journalists Conference is collaboration between The Sports Writers’ Association of Ghana (SWAG) and the leading sports betting company in Ghana, Betway.
Participants received certificates of participation and other complimentary gifts from Betway and SWAG.
From The Sports Desk