Minister for Information, Honourable Fatimatu Abubakar and a delegation from her Ministry as part their media interaction tour with stakeholders in the industry last Tuesday visited the office of The New Crusading GUIDE.
The discussions centred around the positive strides made so far in the media space and the gains therein whilst trying to also appreciate concerns of the institutions and the personnel working in these institutions.
Hon. Abubakar discussed the Coordinated Mechanism on Safety of Journalists (CMSJ) and the Media Capacity Enhancement Programme (MCEP) as some key programmes being undertaken by the Ministry to ensure a conducive regulatory environment to promote growth and innovation in the sector.
She acknowledged that there is a growing number of passionate and talented youth in Ghana who have not undergone any formal training in journalism but have taken up journalism roles. She emphasised that these practicing journalists may not be conscious of the ethics of the profession and therefore, encouraged the Executives to take advantage of Media Capacity Enhancement Programme (MCEP) by the Ministry and enrol some of these individuals to be equipped with some professional training.
The Minister also encouraged media organizations to take advantage of the International Fund for Public Interest Media’s (IFPIM) 5million USD support fund to enhance their growth.
Hon. Abubakar indicated that the final draft of the broadcasting bill has been sent to the Attorney General’s office and will be sent to parliament for consideration after it has been validated by key stakeholders. She indicated that the Ministry will convene a stakeholder meeting to validate and hasten the process. She assured stakeholders that their views and opinion will be incorporated into the draft.
Editor of the New Crusading GUIDE, Ernest Addo, however expressed joy that the Minister visited our office while disclosing that Honourable Fatimatu Abubakar, is the first government official to officially visit the newspaper’s outfit.
Like all newspapers, the Editor the high cost of production materials and appealed to government to ensure an evenly distribution of adverts from state agencies to recall all private newspapers.
