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Mrs. Alice Tettey, a member of the Central Regional Media Advisory Committee has advised journalists to desist from sourcing information from their colleagues on the various social media platforms during the election period.

Speaking at the maiden meeting of the Committee with media practitioners in the Region, she noted that some media houses due to the limited number of reporters, depended on information put on social media platforms.

 The meeting was to afford the eight-member Committee, inaugurated last month by the National Media Commission (NMC), the opportunity to familiarize with media practitioners and conscientise them to be professional during the electioneering period.

The Committee has the mandate to assist the Commission to monitor and directly engage with media houses in the Region, to adhere to the highest journalistic ethical standards and also help settle complaints by and or against the media in the Region, in addition to addressing all media related issues.

Mrs Tettey, who is also the Regional Chairperson of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and the Regional Manager of the Ghana News Agency (GNA), asked journalists to crosscheck their facts and get confirmation from Electoral Commission (EC) Officers before publishing their news.

She said elections reports were unique and different from the normal news reporting and that the former covers an array of sentiments and emotions, which needed to be treated with caution.

Mrs. Tettey reminded the media practitioners of the need to behave responsibly and abide by all rules and regulations on election reporting to ensure peaceful elections.

“Be wary of results from social media groups. The situation in the country is volatile. Get confirmation from officials before you publish. There is uneasy calm in the country. Please let’s not fan sentiments. Let’s be circumspect,” she added.

 The acting Chairman of the Advisory Committee, Mr. John Ankomah Simpson, said the Committee would be monitoring the activities of the media houses in the Region to ensure that they followed the highest journalistic standards.

Other members of the Committee and the media practitioners took turns to press home the need for responsible journalism through objectivity and adherence to rules and regulations to ensure smooth elections.

They were particularly concerned about news embellishment in the local languages by some FM stations and called on such stations to be circumspect.