Asiedu Nketiah urges investment in media sustainability to protect journalistic independence

National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has called for increased investment in Ghana's media sector during the 4th Bono Regional Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Awards in Sunyani. He emphasized the need for media organizations to have sufficient resources to attract and keep skilled journalists, pursue in-depth reporting and maintain efficient newsrooms, particularly in the regions.

Asiedu Nketia stressed that journalists must be able to establish profitable careers without relying on politicians, businesses, or institutions they are meant to scrutinize. He argued that the quality of journalism is directly connected to the working conditions and resources available to media practitioners, and media organizations require the ability to confirm information, conduct investigations, and sustain professional newsrooms beyond the capital city.

The NDC Chairman also highlighted the significance of regional journalism in Ghana's democracy and progress, urging journalists to investigate matters beyond official statements, such as developments in communities, markets, farms, schools, hospitals, and public records. Asiedu Nketia urged politicians to foster an environment where journalists can ask tough questions without such inquiries being perceived as hostility, and to accept difficult questions themselves, as this scrutiny could reveal issues that people within their immediate circles might prefer to avoid.

He congratulated the award-winning journalists and urged them to protect their hard-earned professional reputations, emphasizing that such reputations are built over many years.