The Ghana Journalists Association in the Ashanti Region has opened bids to award distinguished media personnel, media establishments and prominent persons who have contributed to the media landscape in the Ashanti region.
The categories up for the awards ceremony include Special awards for five media establishments; awards for some selected personalities; Special awards for radio, television and print news reporting and features.
The A/R GJA will also be presenting awards for print and electronic media in the area of investigative journalism, photo journalism, sports, crime and court reporting, tourism and culture.
There will also be awards for human rights stories encompassing women, children, the disabled and LGBTIs and HIV/AIDS.
Special awards will also be given for Rural Reporting, science, technology and communication, anti corruption, education, agriculture, Environment, sanitation and hygiene.
The awards will also have a focus on Business Reporting and stories on Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, Oil and Gas and Mining.
There will be a separate category for media houses only and this will comprise best rural radio station and the best TV/radio program in Akan.
There will also be the high award for the journalist of the year which will be at the discretion of the awards committee through the process of nominations
Outlining the categories, Ashanti Region GJA president, Mr Kingsley E. Hope explained, “If you want journalist ‘a’ or ‘b’ to win journalist of the year, you will have to write some 120 words to justify why you are selecting that person to be your journalist of the year.”
Addressing the launch of the awards, the Ashanti Regional Minister Simon Osei Mensah announced that his office will sponsor a specific category of awards.
He assured, “after you have determined the award winning areas, submit it to my office and we will see which of the awards that we can finance as regional coordinating council.”
The regional minister also gave his word to see to the completion of the uncompleted age long regional press centre indicating that all districts in the Ashanti region have been levied to make contributions to the completion of the project.
Mr Osei Mensah further recounted some experiences he had encountered with untruths peddled about him in the media and called on media personnel in the region to be circumspect spreading stories they have not had first hand information about .
Speaking on the theme, “The media mandate in fostering sustainable environmental sanitation, the chief executive of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly Osei Asibey Antwi asked that the media dedicates part of its programming to championing the campaign about keeping the city clean and green.
He was concerned over 30% of the 440 tons of waste generated each day in Kumasi is indiscriminately dumped increasing the cost of getting the mess cleaned up.
The Special guest the Bantamahene Baffour Amankwatia VI condemned the recent killing of a Tiger Eye PI journalist and sounded a notice for an “absolute end to impunity and crimes against journalists in this country.”
“In Ghana today, the journalist has been taken for granted in many ways. They are treated like second class dignitaries at events where they have been legitimately invited but without the journalist, mankind will be out in total darkness by way of dissemination of information,”
He noted, “There is an urgent need for the state to promote a save and enabling environment for journalists to perform their work independently and without undue interference.
Baffour Amankwatia VI further advised media owners to put in place “better and safer plans for their workers.
He described as most unfortunate, the plight of several journalists “who are used and paid pittance as wages by their media houses. Some are just paid meagre allowances while most of them do not have work place conditions of service and others do not enjoy any form of remuneration. They are forced to heavily rely on organisers of events for survival.”
In line with the theme for the awards, the Bantamahene beckoned the media to join in a radical education of the public against littering and its attendant consequences on sanitation, disease control and the image of the Ashanti region.
A five member team was inaugurated to oversee the vetting and selecting of compelling works and nominations deserving of awards.
They comprised Northern Sector Manager for Media General Ghana Limited Mr. Kofi Adu Dumfeh; Ashanti Regional Editor for the Multimedia Group Mr. Saeed Ali Yakubu; Ashanti regional manager of the GHANA News Agency Mrs. Elizabeth Kamkam Boadu; Ashanti regional editor of The Chronicle Newspaper Sebastian Freku and the Ashanti regional Editor of the Pioneer Newspaper Mr. Johnson Gyampo.
By:Ghana/Ultimatefmonline.com/106.9FM/ Ivan Heathcote – Fumador/ Richlove Acheampong
The post A/R – GJA opens nominations for media awards. appeared first on Ultimate FM.
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