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The National Coordinating Committee for Safe and Responsible Journalism in Ghana is expected to publish the final framework that will guide safe and responsible journalistic practices in the country by November.
This follows the development of a draft framework for safe and responsible journalism aimed at preventing attacks and frequent threats against journalists and protecting the democratic powers of the country.
District and regional dialogue meetings will be held between August and September for media stakeholders to solicit contributions across the country in the draft document.
The draft framework highlighted four areas: ensuring intensive training of all actors on their roles to ensure a safe and responsible media environment, setting up an appropriate framework validating attacks and threats against journalists and introducing interventions to prevent attacks from journalists and prosecute the perpetrators of violence journalists as well as the creation of a single platform providing accurate annual statistics on attacks, the safety of journalists and complaints against media professionals.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Minister of Information, said at a stakeholder engagement and validation workshop on the proposed National Coordination Mechanism for Safe and Responsible Journalism in Ghana.
The information from the framework will serve as a feedback mechanism for future commitments and interventions in terms of training and capacity building for journalists to address the phenomenon once and for all.
A permanent multi-stakeholder committee will be set up with the responsibility to ensure that there is a safe and conducive environment for the practice of responsible journalism in the country.
The Stakeholder Meeting was organized by the Ministry of Information in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to solicit input into the draft framework and validate it later, to ensure safe and responsible journalism in the country.
Stakeholders came from 21 institutions, including the Ghana Association of Journalists, the National Media Commission, journalism training institutions, the School of Communications and the Ghana Bar Association.
The other groups are the Armed Forces, the National Peace Council, the National House of Chiefs and the National Commission for Civic Education, media actors such as the Association of Independent Broadcasters of Ghana, Association of Private Newspapers of Ghana, Ghana Sports Writers Association and civil society organizations focusing on media and human rights.
Nkrumah said the number of journalists being badaulted around the world was worrying. Therefore, it was prudent for the global community to examine the causes and develop viable solutions.
He added that the issue of attacks on journalists was twofold: safe and responsible journalism, claiming that journalists were required to operate in a free environment, whereas, in the same spirit, they were not allowed to do so. 39 were not supposed to encroach on the rights of other members of the Council. the public.
Mr. Ronald Affail Monney, President of the Association of Journalists of Ghana, described stakeholder engagement as a special day in the annals of journalistic practice in the country, as he sought to counter the trend disturbing attacks on journalists, and pledged the support of the Association to a worthy cause.
He said 17 journalists had been attacked in a short period of time in the country, pointing out that such atrocities tended to tarnish the image of the country's democracy and journalistic practices, considering that the nation had acquired a high reputation as a standard measurement and reference point for journalistic practice in Africa.
He was pleased that the country was moving from rhetoric on combating attacks on the media to interventions that would ensure the safety of the journalist and make a decisive contribution to the maintenance of a democratic society.
Source: GNA
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