Ghanaian President laments quality of media practice in Africa

John Atta-Mills,
the President of Ghana

Ghanaian President laments quality of media practice in Africa
Ahaziah Suleiman, Accra

The proliferation of foreign content on African radio and television stations has been identified as a major factor hindering development and creativity in the electronic media industry on the continent.

President John Atta-Mills of Ghana made the observation while opening the Fifth World Electronic Media Forum in Accra, the capital.

President Atta-Mills said developmental journalism should be the major focus of practitioners in Africa.

VON correspondent Ahaziah Suleiman who is attending the forum reports that the Ghanaian President blamed journalism training institutions in Africa for the low quality of media practitioners and professionalism on the continent.

The World Electronic Media Forum is a gathering of regional broadcasting bodies with the International Telecommunication Union ITU, the body responsible for the allocation of frequencies in the world.

Agenda

Issues being discussed include the migration from analogue to digital radio and television signals, development of News and Programmes exchange in Africa, IT Technologies for low cost production of radio and TV programmes, amongst others.

The Ghanaian Minister of Communication, Haruna Idrissu, told the gathering that Ghana was ready for the switch over from analogue to digital broadcasting before the deadline of 2015.
While calling for responsible journalism in Africa, the Minister complained of e-waste being dumped on the continent.

In his contribution, ITU Director Malcolm Johnson said that the transition from analogue to digital would reduce energy consumption in the respective countries and boost the quality of signals as well as offer a variety of platforms for the media.

Ekata