About 40 citizen Journalists drawn from across the country have been equipped with skills and given working tools to produce local content stories from their localities which will attract policy makers.
After undergoing three months intensive training on how to make documentaries on issues affecting the socio-economic development of their communities, they received Sony recorders and their accessories as well as certificates.
With sponsorship from donor fund managers, Star-Ghana, the project is dubbed, “Hold my hand documentary project.”
The selected issues include commercial sex workers, Female Genital Mutilation and falling standards of education in rural communities.
At the climax of the training workshop in Accra, chief facilitator of the project who doubles as Citi Fm’s Director of operations, Mr. Bernard Avle said he was satisfied with the participants’ enthusiasm.
Describing the project as a personal sense of fulfilment, he implied, “We are giving power to citizens to tell their own stories for duty bearers and our leaders to listen, pay attention and act.”
He inspired the participants to make a difference in their chosen career, saying, “I am very positive about how passionate these young people are about their country, how concerned they were when they started doing their research and interviewing people and how determined they are to tell stories for the general public to see that we still have a lot to do to deliver social and economic development to our people.”
He commended Star-Ghana for allocating funds to support such project and gave the assurance that the organization will have value for its money.
Mr. Avle said by June 2014, Citi Fm will start playing the first batch of 15 documentaries from different communities across the country.
Managing Director of Citi Fm, Mr. Samuel Atta Mensah inspired the participants to cultivate the habit of extensively reading and listening to news makers.
He also admonished Journalists to be truthful and shun politicians who make conscious attempts to coerce the media to serve their interest at all cost.
“Discover yourselves in the industry by registering your presence and make sure you become relevant in the market; don’t over concentrate on politicians to give you the news; always tell the truth at all cost and shun politicians who might attempt to use you for their selfish gains.”
According to him, understanding the local market, history and the prevailing culture of the society where Journalists operate are the cardinal principles of good journalism.
Mr. Atta Mensah added that it was required of all practicing Journalists to be inquisitive but with greatest responsibility attached to their reportage.
Rationale
The project forms part of Citi Fm’s determination to pick information from a wider choice of official and unofficial sources, instead of only from the agenda-driven conventional media organizations.
This paradigm shift comes in the wake of calls to have a strong, vibrant news media in Ghana to assist in promoting transparency, accountability and social justice in rural communities.
The live documentaries will be broadcast on Citi FM and its affiliate stations nationwide.
This will seek to educate and empower rural dwellers to actively participate in national dialogue.
Participants’ reflection
Some of the participants, including Mashoud Kombat from the northern region, Kojo Brifo from the Brong Ahafo, Hawa Iddrisu from the Ashanti region and Graham Mackintosh from the Volta region and Obrimpong Ampofo from the Western Region admitted that they benefitted a lot from the training.
They therefore called for more of such interventions to improve their skills.
By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana