Graphic Board members visit Bolgatanga office

The Managing Director of Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), Mr Kenneth Ashigbey, has urged staff of the company to come up with innovative ideas to ensure the success and growth of the company.

He said the newspaper industry was under threat with the emergence of social media, which was affecting the fortunes of the company.

The managing director said one major challenge which the company was battling with was newspaper review on radio and television networks.

Newspaper reviews

At a meeting with the staff and vendors of the company in Bolgatanga, Mr Ashigbey said the company had communicated its predicament with newspaper reviews on radio and television networks to the National Media Commission (NMC) and Parliament and expressed the hope that some action would be taken on the issue.

He was part of a delegation of members of the Board of Directors of GCGL on a three-day tour of the northern zone to keep abreast of the conditions under which staff of the company work.

 The delegation included the Board Chairman, Professor K.B. Omane Antwi; Hajj Mohammed Nii Kpakpo Addo, Ms Elain Sam Kwami and Mrs Joyce Osei Agyekum.

To compete favourably with those networks, Mr Ashigbey said the company was also rolling out innovation such as a digital version of the newspapers and urged reporters of the company to produce exclusive features, articles and news stories to enrich the content of its brands.

He urged the staff to develop themselves professionally and academically and encouraged the accounting staff to take up the challenge of becoming financial reporters in view of their professional background.

He also advised the reporters to ensure they went into fields of specialisation to give them an edge to come out with features and articles to enrich the content of the newspapers.

Vendor complaints

Most of the vendors in the region also complained about how the early morning newspaper review and late arrival of the papers were affecting their sales and appealed to the management and board to help find solutions to these problems.

The Business Manager in charge of the Northern Zone, Mr Bala Saad, commended the board for the visit which he described as unprecedented, as it was the first time board members were visiting the northern zone.