GJA to commemorate World Press Freedom Day

The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) will commemorate this year's World Press Freedom Day on May 3 with a number of activities.A statement issued in Accra on Monday by Mr Bright Blewu, General Secretary of the GJA, said the celebration would begin with a symposium and flag-raising ceremony at the Ghana International Press Centre on Monday, May 4 at 0930 hours.The topic for the symposium is the same as the global theme for the celebration, which is, "Media, Dialogue and Mutual Understanding". The statement said speakers would include the Minister of Information Mrs Zita Okaikoi, the President of the GJA, the Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana and the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association.The rest are the President of the Institute of Public Relations, Ghana, and the Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa.The message of the UN Secretary General and the Director General of UNESCO for the Day would be presented at the symposium, which will be chaired by Mr Paul Adu-Gyamfi, Chairman of the National Media Commission.The event is being sponsored by Accra Brewery Limited and supported by Voltic Mineral Water.The statement said on May 6, there would be a dialogue in Accra under the theme, "Transforming GBC into a true Public Service Broadcaster - Challenges and the Way Forward". It would be organized in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) and KAB Governance Consult, as part of an initiative by the GJA to promote quality public service broadcasting. The statement said Mr Berifi Apenteng, Broadcasting Consultant, will make the lead presentation, while Mr George Sarpong, Executive Secretary of the National Media Commission and Mr William Ampem-Darko, Director General of GBC, would be the lead discussants. Participants will be drawn from statutory bodies, the media, academia and civil society.The statement said the dialogue was a follow-up by the GJA to collaborative efforts in the last quarter of 2007 and early 2008 to improve Public Service Broadcasting. It said recommendations from the forum would be presented to the National Media Commission, Ministry of Information and the Vice President, Mr John Dramani Mahama.The statement said there would be another dialogue on May 7 with Ms Anna Bossman, Acting Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) on the topic "Towards Better Human Rights and Administrative Justice in Ghana". It is being organized by the GJA in collaboration with FES.It said World Press Freedom Day among other things provided an opportunity to affirm the importance of freedom of expression and press freedom - a fundamental human right enshrined in the Ghanaian Constitution and in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.It said GJA considered the theme for World Press Freedom Day celebration a good reminder to the Ghanaian media to intensify their efforts to promote unity and national cohesion and to help instil in Ghanaians the spirit of dialogue, tolerance, civility and mutual understanding in the body politic and social discourse.
Source:GNA