Nigeria Association of Women Journalists visit Graphic

A delegation from the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) has visited the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), to familiarise itself with the company’s operations.

The team was led by its National President, Mrs Ifeyinwa Omowole. NAWOJ is on a retreat in Ghana and is visiting various media houses.

Interacting with officials of the company, Mrs Omowole called on journalists to report from a neutral standpoint and avoid opinionated views as much as possible, especially when reporting on criminal activities.

She said doing so would reduce the negative perception people had that some countries were criminal states.

“Crime does not have a religion, nationality or race. It is important that when writing, you don’t criminalise the country with the criminal,” she said.

Nationality

She noted that some Ghanaian media outlets had taken to focusing on the nationalities of criminals in their reportage.

“Putting the nationality of a criminal first spins a narrative that people from that country are fond of engaging in crime,” Mrs Omowale said, adding that Nigerians, for instance, has had bad press in Ghana in that regard.

She said any statistical survey carried out would prove that the number of Nigerians doing legitimate business and contributing to the economy of Ghana surpassed the numbers engaged in criminal activities.

Mrs Omowole said Nigerians and Ghanaians shared a common bond and had the potential to move the entire West Africa forward if they came together.

She said it was important for journalists to present accurate narrative of situations in order to foster improved relations between the two countries.

Objectivity

The Director of News at the GCGL, Mrs Mavis Kitcher, said it was irresponsible for media houses to write narratives about criminals and link them to their countries of origin.

She said the Daily Graphic had a high reputation for being professional and for producing quality stories.

“Even though we sometimes are guilty of this unfortunate profiling, however our news coverage are very objective and true to form,” she said.

The Acting Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mr Kingsley Inkoom, said journalists were key in establishing integration across the sub region.

He said as much as possible efforts to integrate citizens in West Africa must not remain mere political talk but must also be handled at the individual level.

“NAWOJ’s visit is a vital step in the process of establishing relationships with journalists in other countries in the sub-region,” he said.

He said in an age of social media and fake news, it was important for journalists to corroborate stories they received with sources in the countries in question since they could be readily verifiable.

In addition, Mr Inkoom said, it should not be far-fetched for the Daily Graphic to feature stories from Nigerian journalists, adding that such collaboration would lead to enhancing the African story and to making it more appreciable.

On the issue of crime reporting, Mr Inkoom said, as the leading newspaper in the country, the Daily Graphic would lead the charge in making reportage linking criminals to their countries of origin less offensive.

“Even though the media in Ghana is not just Graphic, we would set the example for other media houses to follow,” he said.