The Minister for Information, Honourable Fatimatu Abubakar has announced that the Ministry is engaging with the judicial service and other relevant stakeholders to ensure stiffer punishment for people who attack journalists in the line of their duties. Hon. Abubakar further stressed that the Government is committed to ensuring a conducive environment for free and responsible media.
Hon. Abubakar cited the Coordinated Mechanism on the Safety of Journalists (CMSJ) as one of the interventions introduced by the Ministry to protect and ensure the safety of Journalists in the country.
“The one instance that was prominent when it comes to the framework is when Citi reported an issue involving Caleb Kuda with the national security to the office and the office led the group and the victim to pursue action,” she noted.
The Minister gave the assurance when she paid a courtesy call on the management of the ZED Multimedia as part of engagements with stakeholders within the media sector.
She commended the management of ZED Multimedia and employees for promoting professionalism and utilizing their platforms to include all interested parties in national dialogue. She also urged the personnel to keep interacting with the government and provide input on matters of national importance.
Hon. Fatimatu Abubakar announced also that the 3rd Cohort of the Media Capacity Enhancement Programme (MCEP) will commence soon and urged the management to allow their media personnel to participate in the training.
On the Broadcasting Bill, the Minister indicated that the draft bill was 90% completed and hoped that the media will help sensitize the public on the importance of the Bill.
She informed them also of the International Fund for Public Interest Media (IFPIM), a media development fund targeted at independent media institutions and urged them to take advantage of the fund to support their growth.
The Minister called for a greater collaboration between the media and government to deepen the country’s democracy. She further assured them of her support and urged them to present a detailed proposal to enable her to initiate stakeholder engagements on the issues they have raised.
On his part, Mr. Elvis Darko, a Senior Editor with the ZED Multimedia noted that the biggest challenge facing the media was financing and called for government’s support.
“The media’s biggest challenge is financing, “the media, our biggest problem is financing. So, if there’s a fund and it’s headquartered in Ghana and we had to make applications to the fund, it is a very good thing,” he said.
He further suggested that there should be a team of experts to guide media houses and individual journalists to submit applications to enable them to get funding from IFPM since it could assist media houses and journalists to craft and shape their proposals to suit both local and international standards for applications of funds.
Zed Multimedia comprises the New Finder Newspaper, Zed 101.9fm, Zed TV, Zedonline and Zed Tech.
Source: MOI ( PR UNIT )
