Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) put up a brazen defence of their title in the Newsroom Competition by defeating Islamic University College, Ghana (ICUG) in a three-round thriller at ICUG campus on Thursday.
The Newsroom competition is a simulated news reporting, Corporate Communication and Debating contest that brings universities that run communication programmes together in a battle for bragging rights and institutional clout, while giving students the opportunity to synthesise theory with practice. The performance of competing institutions is assessed by a judging panel composed of seasoned industry professionals.
Defending champions, GIJ made their title defence intentions clear by winning the first two rounds but lost the third round and still carried the day. They took home a trophy, with each team member receiving a certificate. “It was not easy but we are happy we retained the crown”, a member of the winning team said.
In line with the mood of the nation, this year’s Newsroom Competition was themed; “Communicating Peace for Nationhood”. The News Reporting round of the contest was handled by the Ghana4Peace Campaign team which staged a mock news conference to create content for competing institutions to develop their reports.
Speaker for the side, Esther Quayson who is in charge of Communications, urged Ghanaians to stay on the side of peace as the nation readies itself to go to the polls. She had this to say; “Ghana is not particularly righteous or exceptionally peaceful to have escaped the troubles that have destroyed some of our neighbours and other African countries. We seem to be taking the peace we enjoy in this country for granted. Let us be reminded that it takes only a moment of loose talk, senseless political tension or uncontrolled tribal commentary to turn a whole nation upside down. We need to restrain ourselves at this crucial moment because we have only one Ghana”
The Event was graced by the President of ICUG, Dr. Mohsen Ma’arefi together with his top management staff, and the Deputy Chinese Ambassador to Ghana. They took turns to commend Cheetah Communications, organisers of the contest for giving students the opportunity to experience industries realities while on campus and called on participants to imbibe the salient lessons brought on by the competition
The Newsroom 2016 was sponsored by the Chinese Embassy, Accra Brewery Limited, the Finder Newspaper, Business Day Newspaper and Teksol.
<<Print>>