By: Isaac Asare & Mabel Awagah
Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, GBC’s Beatrice Senadju, and Doreen Ampofo have been crowned Female Journalist and Radio Documentary Reporter of the Year.
Clara Mlano was also crowned Best Environmental Reporter of the Year, and Obonu FM’s Nengbe Nyeshe hosted by Naa Dede Akrong was also adjudged as the best Radio Ghanaian language program of the year, respectively at the 28th GJA’s 2024 Media Awards in Accra.
All four nominees from GBC were honoured with prestigious awards for excellent journalism.
The 28th GJA Media Awards also marked the climax of the one-month-long celebration of GJA’s 75th anniversary.
The ceremony was used to honour hard-working journalists who prioritized excellence and exceptionalism in their line of duty.
34 journalists were awarded with various categories. Ghana News Agency’s Edward Acquh emerged as the P.A.V Ansah Journalist of the Year.
Speaking at the event, President Akufo Addo urged media practitioners to be cognizant of the use of social media and its impact on effective journalism in the lead-up to the 2024 general election.
While commending the media for their excellent work in protecting and promoting Ghana’s democracy, President Akufo Addo called on the media to continue its vital work of reporting with integrity, ensuring fairness in coverage, and providing timely and accurate information for voters to make informed decisions.
“Media freedom is not a privilege but a right enshrined in our constitution and we must generously guide it. As we celebrate a 75-year milestone, we must ask ourselves, what does the future hold for journalism in Ghana?”
“The landscape of journalism is evolving and so do most professions. In this age of instant news, social media and citizen journalism, traditional media must adopt. Despite the changes, the values of journalism, truth fairness, impartiality, and objectivity, must never be compromised”.
“Ghanaian journalism has always been known for its tenacity and professionalism and I have no doubt that it will continue to lead the way in this new era”
“I must emphasize that we cannot allow ourselves to be swept away by the type of sensationalism or click bait journalism. The role of journalism is to provide courage not confusion, to inform not to inflame”. He emphasized.
Speaking after the honour, Beatrice Senadju encouraged women to continue to aspire higher and work hard towards achieving their goals without being intimidated.
“Women are shapers. We are already builders. We don’t need to do much, we can always do it. The most important thing is, knowing your purpose, if you know your purpose, nothing will stop you. We don’t have to be afraid, we need to go beyond our limit”.
“We have to break our barns, reporting on an underrepresented person in our societies and also reporting on places where people do want to go. We can do it. We don’t have to listen to the naysayers, let’s go all out and shape our country Ghana through our reportage, our pen, our lenses, and the Ghana we are looking for, we will get it”.
Winner of Radio Documentary of the Year, Doreen Ampofo says what inspired her with her award-winning story was her passion for seeing the end to teenage pregnancy, especially in communities on the coastal belt.
She said the increasing number of young girls dropping out of school and citing short their dreams as a result of teenage pregnancy was worrying and called for urgent attention and intervention.
“I worked on “increased teenage pregnancy in especially coastal communities” and that was a research conducted by the Ghana Health Service. I wanted to find out exactly what was happening in the coastal communities and the fact that contraceptive use was very low among children between the ages of 10 and 15. Unfortunately, these are the children who have recently gotten pregnant and I found that to be very worrying and interesting because these are children who are supposed to be going to school for a better future. So is decided to do that story and I put in all my energy, invested my time and everything to ensure that, I bring the issues out so that we can all understand what the problem is and how we can all deal with it”.
Other winners at the event were Godwin Asediba (Media General): Health Reporter of the Year, Erastus Asare Donkor: Illegal Mining Reporter of the Year.
The event was on the theme, “75 Years of Excellence in Journalism”: The Role of the Media in Democratic Governance and Elections. It reflects the important role of the media in elections and democratic consolidation. To this end, the media is expected to act responsibly by providing objective, balanced, and transparent coverage before, during, and after the December polls.