President Akufo-Addo says he does not in any shape or form accept attacks against journalists, even the ones who abuse him.
That, he said was because “the safety of journalists in Ghana has to be considered sacrosanct; sacrosanct from members of the community, sacrosanct from agencies of the state and we must be a country where journalists have to feel safe to go about their work.”
That was when leadership of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) called on him at the Jubilee House Wednesday.
It followed concerns raised by President of the Association about supposed attacks on journalists.
“I want to be very unequivocal about the safety of Journalists. I don’t condone attacks on any journalist, even those who abuse me, I do not condone any attacks on them”, was how he put it.
That, he said was because “a noisy press, even a mischievous press, is better than a sycophantic press.”
He expressed surprise “to hear that there is a devaluation of press freedom in Ghana” whilst insisting that looking at the level of media plurality in Ghana, the country’s press freedom score should be impeccable.
“When you look at the diversity of our press, when you look at its proliferation all over the country, I don’t know if there are so many countries on the continent that has such widespread independent media outlets as Ghana” the President wondered.
Rather, President Akufo-Addo said “the whole concept of responsible journalism is extremely important for the welfare of our country” and thus asked media practitioners not to accept what news makers and politicians tell them on face value, but endevour to dig deeper into claims and better inform their listeners, viewers and readers.
“I think that beyond everything, what most people are sensitive about are the capacity of the media to generate its own information. That is the aspect of it that is responsible journalism” he said.
“You hear things from state actors, you hear things from private actors and you are in the position to independently verify the truth or otherwise of what is being said.
“It is extremely important because too often, things that are said are taken at face value and therefore the population is denied any informed scrutiny of the claims that are been made and I think that that is a serious matter”, he noted with concern.
President of the Ghana Journalists Association, Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, on his part said he and his colleague GJA executive intend to work hard to stop attacks on journalists in the country.
“In view of this, the GJA will launch the Journalist Support Fund (JSF) come November 2nd to also commemorate the International Day to End Impunity for Crime Against Journalists. This was a resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly at its 68th session in 2013 to set aside November 2nd in memoriam of two French Journalists who were assassinated in Mali in 2013” he noted.
“This initiative named Journalist Support Fund, seeks to raise a minimum of Ghc2 million (Two Million Ghana Cedis) as seed capital to fight or address attacks on Journalists and to also support Journalists in this regard” he stated, indicating that “the launch of the Fund on that date is meant to give a practical meaning to commemorate the International Day to End Impunity for Crime against Journalists.”
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent