By: Emmanuel Oti Acheampong
President of the Ghana Journalists Association, Mr. Albert Kwabena Dwumfour has bemoaned the condition of service of Ghanaian Journalists, describing it as nothing to write home about.
He made this comment during his opening speech at the second annual GJA awards dinner night on Thursday, December 21, 2023.
He described the works of the Ghanaian Journalists as one that contributes immensely to the growth and development of the ordinary Ghanaian and the country but under a bad condition of service in terms of wages or salaries.
“Even though the Ghanaian Journalists play a significant role in the development of the country, their conditions of service are nothing to write home about. This is not limited to private media houses alone, Journalists in state owned media also suffer a similar fate”, he said.
According to Mr. Dwumfour, both public and private owned media Journalists suffer the same fate which he believes should not be so. He called for a better and decent wage structure for Journalists in Ghana because their works contribute highly to the maintenance of a democratic atmosphere and citizenry involvement in the development of the country.
He also noted that reports suggest that the high level of inflation across the globe has a great impact on the practice of Journalism and Ghana is no exception. This he said has made some Journalists depend on brown envelopes for their work.
According to him, if issues of working conditions of Journalists are not taken as a matter of national and organizational priority, it may jeopardize media freedom and independence.
He further touted the year 2023 as one of the best years of the GJA, citing the bid to host the third African Media Convention in Ghana as one of its greatest achievement in the year.
The African Media Convention is the largest meeting of media practitioners and stakeholders on the continent and Ghana’s right to host it falls within the right frame of time and period as it will earmark the GJA’s 75th anniversary.
He expressed gratitude to the National Executives of the GJA for working assiduously to see that Ghana wins the bid to host the convention in May 2024.
He mentioned that the convention will serve as a moment of reflection for media stakeholders on things that impede media freedom, media viability and sustainability as well as safety and security of Journalists.
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