“You can’t give what you don’t have. If you don’t have expertise the result will be perpetration of mediocrity which we see in certain sections of the media,” was Ghana Journalist Association President, Affail Monney’s response when asked his view regarding the quality of Journalism in the country.

He argued that content produced by most media outlets in the country reek of amateurism, a state he said is due to the lack of professional training as most ‘journalists’ of today thrive on good oratory skills as the pass to engage in the profession.

He blamed the ‘ill state’ of media practice in Ghana on those unprofessionally trained persons who believe having a great voice or looking good was all it took to make the cut.

“He went on to explain that, “You may be gifted linguistically, you may be blessed with literary embroidery but you still need to be trained. If you are not trained, it will show in your work. And so our first importance is on training. Professional standard is the fruits of training, quality training, “he explained.

He ascertained that “in view of the expansive nature of the Ghanaians media space, in view of the explosive internet capacity, so many radio and TV stations are being created and I will say without any fear of contradiction that many of these people who man such stations are not trained.

The GJA president suggested intensive training sessions for all media personnel, as one significant way to curb the influx of mediocre outputs in the media space.

He noted that as part of the world press freedom day celebration in Ghana a workshop and training was done for selected media persons.



Such an activity he insisted was going to ensure that many more people undergo training programs geared towards impacting them with skills and up-to-date nuances of the profession.