Truth must never take a back seat in the serious business of reporting - Media General Group CEO

The Group Chief Executive Officer of Media General, Beatrice Agyemang Abbey, has charged the media to educate the general public, specifically electorates to make sound political and economic decisions as to realise the goal of a more robust country that can rub shoulders with the developed democracies.

She made this statement at the second session of the thirteenth congregation of the Ghana Institute of Journalism held on Friday 13th March 2020 at the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons where she was a Guest Speaker.

Delivered a speech to motivate the graduating students, the head of Ghana’s leading media company urged the graduating students to adopt best practices and adhere to the ethics of the profession.

She emphasized that “incidentally, you are coming out of school at this crucial time, ready to hew your communication stones to stop those communication stowaways who muddy the waters, thus putting the political thermometer out of gear. Their behavior is obviously a major danger to our democracy. I urge you, therefore, to adopt a new culture of communication, borne out of investigations and fact-checking to distinguish yourselves”.

In cautioning the media to communicate with the sole aim of speaking the facts as they are, she stated that “the truth must never take a back seat in the serious business of reporting the facts especially as Ghana records cases of persons who have tested positive of the COVID-19.

"Our growing Economy and the precious lives of the Ghanaian populace must be at the heart of our fight to help stem the spread of this growing pandemic in Ghana. However, we must say it as it is and at the same time desist from being overly sensational. We must be persons of integrity. Honesty and trust must be central in our work”.

The Ghana Institute of Journalism as an institution has for the last six decades been very pivotal in the training of media practitioners for a vibrant Ghanaian media landscape. The event was attended by members of the Governing Council and Management of the Ghana Institute of Journalism, Executive Secretary of the National Council for Tertiary Education and representatives of the Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service.