By Emmanuel Oti Acheampong
Former Radio Broadcaster and current Broadcasting lecturer at the Wisconsin University, Teye Kitcher, has debunked claims and widely spread notation that, everyone can become a Journalist, saying it is never true.
Over the years, with the advent of social media and sophisticated technological tools, there has been what is popularly called “Citizen Journalism”. This allows ordinary Citizens who have no prior training in the media or Journalism field to capture events and occurrences on their smartphones and report on them.
In a panel discussion on GTV on Sunday, July 23, 2023, with Kafui Dey, the former broadcaster, rejected the claims that everyone can become a Journalist citing that without going through the necessitated training, even with the speaking or interviewing talent, you can never be called a Journalist.
He added that, in other Professions or fields such as health, it has never been recorded that one is called a Doctor without going through medical School and being certified by the appropriate authority.
“… Whoever says anyone can be a journalist, it is not correct. Can you get up and say you are a Doctor when you have not been to the Medical School?”, he questioned.
According to him, the training one gets with regard to the Journalism profession, does not only guide you in the practice but also gives you some ethical direction that can set you apart from the other practitioners. He added that ethics in the practice is as important as the profession itself because it outlines the principle nature in you as a Journalist.
He further admonished the young and professional practicing Journalists in Ghana, to scale up their qualifications so as to take up the lecturing mantle to facilitate the production of better Journalists at the tertiary level.