Formal certification in media practice will infringe free expression - Ayeboafoh

The Director of Newspapers of the Graphic Communications Group Limited, Mr Yaw Boadu Ayeboafoh has argued that it would be wrong if a formal certificate in media training is made a prerequisite for media practitioners in Ghana.

He said that apart from excluding a lot of seasoned persons who have and continue to make rich contributions to national development in the media, the certification would also infringe on the rights of people to free expression.

Mr Ayeboafoh, himself a seasoned media practitioner and trainer, was speaking at the opening of a maiden roundtable discussion on "Media Ethics and Transparency in Frequency Allocation" in Kumasi.

The programme is a collaboration between STAR Ghana and the Graphic Communications Group Limited, publishers of Daily Graphic, The Mirror, Showbiz, Junior Graphic and Graphic Sports.

Mr Ayeboafoh stated emphatically that he would resist any attempt to make formal training certification a prerequisite for media practice because journalism practice had benefitted from the input of persons who have no formal education in journalism but had richer inputs than persons who hold certificates in the field of Media practice.

He cited the contribution of people like Mr I.K. Gyasi who he said have no certificate in journalism practice but were enriching the profession.

He appealed to practitioners especially in radio, to refrain from always seeking opinions of people who know next to nothing about issues simply because they belonged to one political party or the other.

Mr Ayeboafoh also challenged journalists to strictly abide by their professional ethics and stop mixing the practice with their political affiliations because journalists represent the society.

He asked journalist to always be guided by objectivity, fairness and the desire to represent the views and aspirations of the ordinary Ghanaian.

The forum will brainstorm on the two topics of Transparency in the Allocation of Frequencies as well as Media Ethics.