By Nathaniel Nartey
President of the Ghana Journalists Association, GJA, Roland Affail Monney has expressed concern on the trend of Military Coup de tats in West Africa and its implication on media freedom.
Mali, Guinea, Guinea Bissau and Burkina Faso have all had Military coups leading to the removal of constitutionally elected Presidents in recent times.
Speaking to Journalists during the signing of an MOU between GJA and Knutsford University, Mr. Monney highlighted the importance of building the capacity of journalists to ensure the media is not silenced in these trying times as the foundations of democracy in the sub region is under threat.
“We live in a globalized world where events in Burkina Faso, Mali and elsewhere can also impact negatively on the media in Ghana. The media everywhere are the oxygen for democracy so such undemocratic means of doing things for others assume power is not only an affront to democracy but also a slap or dint on media freedom.
He went on to say that “responsible journalism is the fruit of training and retraining so this underlines the need for media practitioners to be capacitated on regular basis.”
