The Minister of Information Designate, Fatimatu Abubakar, has paid courtesy calls to a number of media outlets as part of her stakeholder engagements in the media industry.
The visits, which got underway in Accra today, are meant to promote an ongoing conversation with the media about new problems that are coming up in the sector.
Fatimatu Abubakar, the sector minister-designate, was in charge of the delegation.
The EIB Group, which owns iconic brands like GhOne, Starr FM, and Kasapa FM, was the first place the team visited. Additionally, Kessben Media, Wontumi Radio, and Movement Television stopped them. As part of these interactions, the delegation intends to visit other media outlets.
The Minister Designate applauded the media outlets’ management and employees for promoting professionalism and utilizing their platforms to include all interested parties in the national conversation.
She asked the staff to keep communicating with the government and offering input on matters of national importance.
Through capacity building, Madam Abubakar emphasized the government’s commitment to fostering an atmosphere that is supportive of free and responsible media while also helping to improve the caliber of work performed by journalists.
She advocated for increased cooperation between the media and all other stakeholders, including the government, in order to strengthen the nation’s democracy while speaking with the management and employees of the media outlets.
The 3rd Africa Media Convention is set for May 15–17, 2024, and the Minister Designate has called for media support and participation. Annually, African media stakeholders support this collaborative effort to reflect on the critical role of journalism on the continent, celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom, and discuss ways to protect media freedom, advance information access, ensure the safety of journalists, and increase media visibility in member states of the Africa Union.
She emphasized Ghana’s notable rise from 62nd to 50th place out of 180 nations. She credited the performance to the Media Capacity Enhancement Programme and the Ghana Office of the Safety of Journalists, both of which have made significant contributions to the standard of Ghanaian journalism.
The media owners criticized the spread of false information and misinformation online and urged the Ministry to back online content sanitization.
The Media Capacity Enhancement Programme’s third cohort is set to begin shortly, according to Fatimatu Abubakar, who also asked media owners to permit their staff to take part in the training.
The media owners were notified by the Minister for Information Designate about the International Fund for Public Interest Media (IFPIM), a media development fund aimed at independent media establishments.
She urged all media firms to utilize the money, stating that IFPIM is primarily interested in the sustainability of media houses.