Journalists schooled on child right reporting

Journalists from the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions are being schooled at a two-day "ethical reporting" workshop on children to enable them report accurately and professionally on issues involving children. The workshop is being attended by 35 journalists and they would also be schooled on the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Right of the Child of which Ghana is a signatory. The workshop was organized by the Northern Regional Chapter of the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) with support from UNICEF. Mr. Alidu Baba, the Northern Regional Chairman of the GJA, said the media must report professionally when reporting on issues affecting children. "It is unacceptable to publish images of victims of circumstances because it puts such victims to public ridicule thereby deepening their trauma," he said. Mr Baba said proprietors of some media houses, because of cost, employ people who have no knowledge of journalism and their activities bring the profession into disrepute. The Northern Regional Minister, Mr. Steven Sumani Nayina, said the media were a major stakeholder in the development of the nation and it was important to give journalists opportunities in knowledge acquisition to be able to inform the public accurately. He said it was however unacceptable for want of time for journalists to rush to send their reports over the airwaves and in publications about purely unethical issues. The minister said media reportage had stopped wars, sparked wars and mended wars and urged the media to use their potential to report positively on children.