THE PRESIDENT of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Roland Affail Monney has urged the police and other security agencies to exercise restraint when dealing with journalists.
According to him, there would be nobody to speak in defence of society when the entire community comes under attack if media practitioners suffer from physical attacks.
Mr. Monney was speaking at a media engagement to condemn the recent attacks on media personnel, saying �Any assault on any person, therefore, ought to be publicly condemned. Journalists must, therefore, be seen as an attack on the poor and vulnerable in society whose cause the media champion,� he stated.
The GJA president said the consistency, rapidity and audacity of some of the attacks on journalists suggested that respect for rule of law and order had suffered a decline and could worsen if nothing was done.
He further mentioned that one cherished value of an enlightened society was the prohibition against physical assault and urged society to halt the spread of the barbaric act.
�In situations like that, it is imperative on decent society to stand up and defend what is right,� he said.
He argued that there would be no need to have a press law which would not protect the freedom of the journalists saying �the law must have all the safeguards to ensure that journalists will have access to information which is being held by people in power or authority.�
Mr. Monney was of the view that any attack on the media was an attack on the country�s democracy and would use all the appropriate measures within the law to fight for their freedom.
He later called on media practitioners to be circumspect in the way the carry out their activities in order to serve and collectively help develop Ghana.
On his part, the Managing Director of Graphic Communications Group Ltd, Kenneth Ashigbey, urged all owners of media organizations to provide protection to their staff to ensure that they are protected.
He urged the media to stand united, adding, �We need to ensure that we protect our people, and if it happens we should make sure we fight it to the limit.�
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