GJA is 75 today

The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) is exactly 75 years old today and will mark the day with a conference around Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the cutting of an anniversary cake at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel.

The cutting of the 75th anniversary cake will be preceded by a commemorative lecture on the topic: “AI and the future of journalism” at 4p.m. as the GJA looks into the future of journalism in Ghana, while celebrating the past.

The President of the GJA, Albert Kwabena Dwumfuor, in an interview with the Daily Graphic yesterday made a rallying call to all journalists across the country, particularly those within the Greater Accra Region and adjoining regions to attend the programme in their numbers.

“This is our birthday and it falls exactly today, August 15, as history has it that Dr Kwame Nrkrumah set up the GJA on this date in 1949,” the GJA president recalled.

He said the event would also be telecast live on GTV and all major television and online broadcasting platforms.

Highlights

The programme will be the highlight of activities to commemorate the 75th Anniversary, which is on the theme: “75 years of excellence in journalism: Honouring the past, embracing the present and shaping the future”.

The commemorative lectures will be delivered by Charles Nii Ayiku Ayiku, an information technology (IT) expert & General Manager of External Communications of the Electricity Company of Ghana, and the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Edel Technology Consulting, Ethel Cofie, with the acting Dean of the School of Communication Studies, Wisconsin International University College, Ghana, Baaba Cofie, as the chairperson.

The Minister of Information, Fatimatu Abubakar, and the President of the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), Omar Faruk Osman, will be the Special Guest and Guest Speaker respectively.

A statement released earlier by the GJA mentioned other dignitaries attending the programme as ministers of state, Members of Parliament, the diplomatic corps, past GJA national executive, heads of media institutions and media partners.

Also, media practitioners, lecturers, students and members of the general public will attend the programme.

roviding entertainment for the assembly will be the Ghana Police Band and Alabaster Box in what promises to be an evening of good reflection and refreshment.

Background

The GJA was born on August 15, 1949, at the peak of the nationalist struggle for independence from colonial rule.

The leaders of the nationalist struggle had used the media at the time as an anti-colonial weapon, especially to espouse their ideas and vision for independence.

“After 75 years of its birth and helping to secure Ghana’s independence, the GJA and the media are still battling for freedom – freedom of the media, freedom of expression, freedom from obnoxious laws, freedom from persecution and freedom from physical attacks – even in a democratic dispensation,” the GJA said in a statement signed by its General Secretary, Kofi Yeboah.