By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) is billed to host the third edition of the African Media Convention.
GJA, an affiliate of the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) and its parent body the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) won the bid to host the Third African Media Convention in Accra, Ghana in May 2024.
The successful bid of the GJA to host the next Convention was announced during the Second Africa Media Convention which was held in Lusaka, Zambia from May 11–13, 2023.
The African Media Convention is currently the largest gathering of media stakeholders and policymakers on the continent.
The Convention, an initiative of The African Editors’ Forum (TAEF) is designed to safeguard the hard-won media freedoms and safety of journalists on the continent.
The maiden edition of the Convention was held in Arusha, Tanzania, in 2022. The Convention brings together media experts, scholars, students, journalists, journalists’ unions and associations, editors, public and private sector, including cooperating partners from around the African continent and beyond as well as representatives from UNESCO and the African Union Commission.
The Convention serves as the biggest platform to enable all stakeholders to reflect on the revolving trends that impede freedom of expression and freedom of the media, media viability and sustainability as well as the safety and security of journalists.
In his acceptance speech to the delegates at the Second African Media Convention, the GJA President, Mr. Albert Kwabena Dwumfour said that Ghana is ready and prepared to host the Third African Media Convention in Accra in 2024.
“I must state that the Government of Ghana has given us their commitment and full assurance that it will support the hosting of this event, just as it did in 2018 when Accra hosted Global Press Freedom Day.
He further noted that Ghana’s performances on the 2018 -2020 World Press Freedom Index were remarkable, ranking third in Africa in 2018, first in 2019 and third again in 2020. Ghana is amongst the freest countries in Africa as far as freedom and independence of the media is concerned.
The GJA will be the first journalists’ association to host this event noting that the first Convention was hosted by the East African Editors’ Forum in Arusha, Tanzania, and the second edition of the Convention was hosted by the Southern Africa Editors’ Forum (SAEF).