Third OFAB Media Awards Held in Accra

By Benedicta Gyimaah Folley

The vice president of the Ghana Journalist Association, Mrs Linda Appiah- Agyei, has underscored the need for journalists to research into stories before filing them.

"News men and women need to research into stories they present to their audience, so their viewers, listeners and readers would get a better understanding of the issue," she said.

According to her, a lot of media practitioners have soiled the hard-earned reputation of some resource personnel and those damages could not be repaired.

Mrs Appiah-Agyei was speaking at the third Open Forum Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB) Media Awards on Monday, at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research - Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (CSIR-STEPRI) in Accra.

OFAB is an initiative of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), a non-governmental organisation which focuses on agriculture biotechnology.

The ceremony aimed at recognising exemplary journalism that stimulates best practices in the adoption of agricultural technologies, particularly agricultural biotechnology.

Mrs Appiah-Agyei added that with agriculture science and technology being an integral part of Ghana's development agenda, journalists played a major role in helping the country to achieve the desired results in the field of agriculture.

She encouraged journalists to prioritise agricultural reporting, particularly on agricultural biotechnology.

Mrs Appiah-Agyei congratulated the winners and urged them to work hard, so they can better represent Ghana in Kenya.

Prof. Kenneth Danso, a member of OFAB, said agriculture, which we termed as the bedrock of development in Ghana, could never be if it was not driven by technology.

He said Ghana's population was growing, hence the need to find innovative ways of sustaining agriculture in Ghana.

Prof. Danso said technology had to be moved to the field, so the citizenry could see, appreciate and adopt it.

The Director General of CSIR, Victor Kwame Agyemang, bemoaned how researchers were relegated to the background, with no recognition after a hard day's work, hence called on all and sundry to appreciate the work of researchers as well as the media.

At the end of the short ceremony, Salifu Wononuo, Ama Achiaa Amankwah Baafi and Ibrahim Abubakar were announced as winners at the 2019 OFAB media award.

The winners who received plaques, hampers and cash as their prizes, thanked the organisers for recognising their works and promised to work hard.

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