The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), with sponsorship from the US Embassy in Accra, is set to launch a project on media coverage of this year’s general elections dubbed ‘Media Convention 2020’ on Tuesday, March 10, 2020.
The Media Convention is on the theme: “The 2020 election: Role of the media in promoting civility and discernment in the political discourse”.
The General Secretary of GJA, Mr. Kofi Yeboah, in a news release said launching will take place at the Ghana International Press Centre in Accra at 9:30am prompt.
The ceremony will be chaired by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mrs. Jean Mensa, with the Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafo, delivering the Keynote Address.
The Media Convention will bring together representatives of political parties, security agencies, EC, media institutions and bloggers for a one-day dialogue on media coverage of Election 2020.
The Media Convention will be held across the country as categorized and scheduled hereunder:
Centre A, which comprises the Greater Accra, Eastern and Volta regions, will set the pace for dialogue in Accra immediately after the launch of the project on Tuesday.
The Media Convention will then move to Kumasi on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, for Centre B, which comprises Ashanti, Bono and Ahafo regions.
Centre C, which is made up of Western, Western North and Central regions will take their turn in Takoradi on Tuesday, April 21, 2020.
Thereafter, the Media Convention will move to the northern sector of the country where, in Centre D, representatives from the Northern, Upper East, Bono East and Oti regions will meet in Tamale on Thursday, June 25, 2020, for the one-day dialogue.
The Media Convention will reach its climax in Wa on Thursday, July 28, 2020, with representatives from Upper West, Savannah and North East regions, constituting Centre E, taking their turn.
Issues to be discussed at the conventions include ‘GJA Guidelines on Election Reporting: Its impact, challenges and review’; ‘NMC media monitoring and complaint settlement: How effective as regulatory tools’; ‘Fake news syndrome: How can Election 2020 coverage be insulated’, and ‘Attacks on media during elections: Causes and effects’.
The GJA held its first-ever Media Convention in 2012 in connection with the general elections that year, which was also sponsored by the US Embassy in Accra.
The GJA President, Affail Monney, expressed profound gratitude to the US Embassy for its continuous support to the GJA over the years.
“The US Embassy has been a faithful partner to the GJA in many ways. We are most grateful to Ambassador Sullivan and her team, and hope our cordial relations will continue to blossom,” he said ahead of the launch on Tuesday.
Source: Mybrytfmonline/David Sackey
