Elizabeth Ohene assumes duty as Guest Editor Thursday

A former acting Editor of the Daily Graphic, Ms. Elizabeth Ohene, returns to the paper as Guest Editor on Thursday, September 10, many years after leaving that role.

Ms. Ohene returns to this familiar role on Thursday, the third personality to serve as guest editor in the series initiated as part of activities to mark the 70th anniversary of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) and its flagship brand, the Daily Graphic.

The Daily Graphic was the first brand published by the GCGL and the company has gone on to build other brands — five other newspapers and two online portals.

Editorial conference

The guest editor initiative took off last May and has seen the Managing Director of Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited and President of the Ghana Association of Bankers (GAB), Mr. Alhassan Andani, and the Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Dr. Yaw Baah, appearing as the first and the second guest editors, respectively.

Many other high-profile personalities have been pencilled in for the role in the run-up to the climax of the Platinum Jubilee celebration of the group in October.

The Guest Editor is expected to chair both editorial conferences for the day.

State-owned

Ahead of Thursday, Ms. Ohene, a former Minister of State and Government Spokesperson has commended the GCGL for sustaining the public confidence in its brands in the last 70 years.

She said due to its history, many people assumed the paper was a government mouthpiece, but noted that it had, over the years, demonstrated its professionalism and advised the paper to maintain its fairness and objectivity in order to sustain the public confidence in the brand.

“There are many people who still see the Daily Graphic as government-controlled, but the paper has demonstrated that although it is state-owned, it is not government-controlled.

“The Daily Graphic is a brand that took its responsibilities seriously and has, over the years, maintained its balance and neutrality,” she said.
Ms. Ohene, a columnist of the Daily Graphic, said the GCGL brands had never lost sight of the fact that the newspaper industry was also a business which must be managed to sustain itself.

She advised the company and its brands to remain true to the values of independence, truth and accuracy, which would also help the business thrive.

She recounted that during her time at the Daily Graphic, newsprint for the publication was a big deal, saying: “It was simply difficult to come by and so we had to publish between 12 and 16 pages daily.”

“We took a decision not to publish funeral announcements due to the lack of space,” she said.

The former acting editor advised reporters at the GCGL to always use modern technology, such as mobile phones, to fact-check information before publication.

That, she said, would enhance the speed and accuracy of the papers.

Time in the Newsroom

Ms. Ohene's association with the Daily Graphic began in 1967 when she worked with the paper as a reporter and rose through the ranks in the Newsroom to ultimately serve as acting Editor of the Daily Graphic and The Mirror, before her exit in 1982.

The former BBC producer and anchor intimated that while she was in the Daily Graphic Newsroom, she nurtured the desire to become a sports reporter and, therefore, created the space to be able to learn and practise under the tutelage of Ken Bediako.

She also mentioned senior colleagues such as Perigrino Peters, D.A. Okine and Eben Quarcoo as those who had inspired her when she was at Graphic.