The Minister for Information, Mustapha Hamid, has expressed displeasure on the phenomenon of media owners paying media practitioners meager salaries for their services.

Mr Hamid who acknowledged the contribution of the media to the development of the country was astonished to the reality of media practitioners being paid as less as GhC300.

He has, however, implored the GJA and it’s entire membership to commit its energies towards bargaining for “better emoluments for journalists”.

He said these when delivering a keynote address at the maiden edition of the Ghana Journalist Association/ Association of Ghana Industries (GJA/AGI) awards ceremony held on Saturday in Ho.

“If we say the media is basically the watchdog of our democratic process, then it should not be possible for the media person to be compromised. But how do we say that Media people should not be compromised when media people are paid as less as GhC300, GhC400”, he lamented.

Mr Hamid indicated that “unfortunately media people in Ghana are among the poorest paid people, that is matter that is of great concern to me and perhaps to every other citizen who should be concerned about proper governance,” he said.

Awards ceremony

9 practicing journalists in the Volta Region were recognized and awarded for excellent reportage at the ceremony.

Below is the list of awardees at the AGI/GJA Awards 2017

Sanitation – Ivy Setordzi (Joy News)

Education – Team TV Africa

Disaster Prevention and Management – Sumaiya Salifou (GNA)

Health – Hubert Mawuli Yevu Agbi (VPFM, Ho and Joy News)

Toursism - Benjamin Atipo (Tv Africa)

Agriculture – Duho Fred (Global Fm, Ho)

Court and Crime – Charlotte Ablah Lumor (Shalom Lumor)

Sport – Tilda Elinam Acorlor (GBC, Volta Star, Ho)

Business and Economics – King Norbert Akpablie (Citifm).