[ad_1]
<! –
->
Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa, senior foreign affairs officer in Parliament, congratulated Ghanaian journalists for their lively reporting.
In a statement commemorating World Press Freedom Day, the North Tongu MP paid tribute to well-known media personalities known for their work.
"… This list must surely include Anas Aremeyaw Anas, who was awarded in January in Lausanne, Switzerland, for his presentation of the Manbadeh Azure Awuni number 12 of the Multimedia group which, in October 2018, became the West African journalist of the year and our own Joseph Opoku Gakpo of the Parliamentary Press Corps, which has been named the world 's best video journalist in 2018 by the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (FIJA), "wrote Ablakwa.
The legislator also praised the media for not only telling stories "but taking history as a cause and pursuing it until clear and tangible results are achieved".
Read his full statement below:
Mr. President, I am extremely grateful to you for giving me the opportunity to make this statement to commemorate World Press Freedom Day, celebrated today by all those around the world. who believe in the power of a free, pluralistic and independent press. for real.
In 1993, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed World Press Freedom Day every May 3. It is instructive to note that the process leading up to this statement was led by African journalists who, in 1991, published the Windhoek Declaration on Pluralism and the Independence of the Media.
Mr. President, at home in Ghana, our references, which are globally recognized as a nation that values and respects the principles of freedom of the media and freedom of expression, especially in this dispensation of the Fourth Republican, are not not and can not be doubted. It is in pursuit of this sacred goal that an entire chapter – Chapter Twelve of the 1992 Ghana Constitution is devoted to "Freedom and Independence of the Media". Indeed, Article 162 (1) – the first article of Chapter 12 states: "Freedom and independence of the media are guaranteed."
Mr President, like all freedoms, the freedom of the media has not been transmitted to us on a silver platter. Many have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice themselves, sometimes paying the ultimate price of death to feed the roots of freedom of the press. On this day, we salute all journalists and honor them for their sacrifices, their tribulations and their work. We also pay tribute to the memory of missing journalists, such as Ahmed Hussein-Suale of Tiger Eye, who are no longer among the living but whose contribution to a just and equitable world is eternal.
Mr President, according to Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, this year's theme is "Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in the Age of Reform".
As Ghana prepares for an 8th decisive election next year, this theme is rather fortuitous. We must all think about the dangers of misinformation as a product of a toxic mix of technology abuse, violation of data confidentiality, interference from dishonest and often external elements. with the active collaboration of unscrupulous insider actors. False information and armed media that play our fears to divide us must be defeated. I hope that we will learn from the way in which misinformation has eroded the democratic gains of other jurisdictions and that we will advance the process of formulating political and legislative reforms to protect our relatively nascent democracy.
Mr. Speaker, as we commemorate this day, we must take note of our decline in the 2019 World Press Freedom Index, where we moved from Rank 23 to Rank 27. Unfortunately, we have also lost our status as the highest ranked country in Africa World Index of Freedom of the Press, established annually by Reporters Without Borders, which badesses the state of journalism in 180 countries.
This last ranking, published only a few weeks ago, calls for sober reflection; we went too far as a country to have any tolerance threshold for police brutality inflicted on the three journalists of the Ghanaian Times (Raissa Sambou, a nursing mother, Malik Sulleman, a court reporter, Abdul Salifu Rahman, badistant). Editor-in-chief), Latif Iddrisu of Joy News and other badaults such as those against Victor Kawukume and Timothy Gobah, all of the Daily Graphic. We must send a clear message to all that this nation will not tolerate any abuse or attack by journalists in the performance of their legitimate duties.
Mr. President, I would now like to congratulate the Ghanaian media for rooting a new wave of activist journalism. A positive trend is emerging: Journalists not only tell the story and move on to the other, but take history as a cause and pursue it until clear and tangible results are achieved. In this regard, I congratulate the Media Coalition Against Galamsey, the energetic campaign to track down the kidnapped Takoradi Girls, the campaign to disband political self-defense groups and the remarkable history of resilience of the Coalition for the Right to Freedom. # 39; information. It is a most refreshing and inspiring development that we must all encourage and, in fact, provide the necessary support as a legislative body, as we are natural allies in our oversight mandate.
Allow me to take a moment, Mr. President, to pay tribute to the Ghanaian journalists who have recently made Ghana proud of its coveted international awards: this list must certainly count on Anas Aremeyaw Anas, who was awarded in January in Lausanne, in Switzerland, for his "Number 12" exhibition, Manbadeh Azure Awuni from the Multimedia group who, in October 2018, became the West Africa Journalist of the Year and our own Joseph Opoku Gakpo of the Press corps Parliamentary, voted best video journalist of the world in 2018 by the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ).
That day, I salute our brave compatriots of the Fourth Estate – the pawns working in difficult conditions in remote areas, the investigative journalists who brave the elbows to denounce the wrongs, the production teams that must surrender at work at unfair times, the media house owners who are fighting against adverse economic conditions and our own parliamentary press corps without which what is happening here will remain within the confines of this room – to all of you, I say Ayekoo and Akpe Ga.
[ad_2]
Source link
