According to him, the initiative will equip journalist with specialized training and skills about diverse subject areas relevant in aiding journalist to become independent and neutral arbitrators of government policies and dealing in the  ‘public court of opinion’.

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Mr Hamid said situations where most journalists depended on only politicians to comment on issues bordering the country without having a fair understanding of the problems do not help the citizenry in decision making hence the initiative.

He disclosed this at a media engagement with journalists in the Upper East Region on Friday.

Even though the minister did not disclose when the initiative will commence, journalist across the country will be selected to be trained by international institutions and organisations.

“So I am begging journalist to upgrade their knowledge but on our part as government, we have resolved that we will help you in that endeavor.

we are currently in talks with so many interested international bodies and trading organizations to once a while allow us(government) to pick some of our journalist across the country for training so that journalist can get the opportunity to upgrade their knowledge”.

“Frankly, I admit that many journalists in our country cannot afford the money to undertake such training and upgrading themselves. So we believe that as a government we should have a contribution towards this course so that we can have journalists who have informed themselves and therefore capable of moderating and writing on national issues”.

Mr Hamid added that the scraping of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) levy in the second cycle institutions by the government was to prevent heads of SHSs from using the “backdoor to charge monies that will almost look like fees”.

He also hinted that the government in the coming weeks would launch the ‘One Village One Dam’ project where hundreds of communities in the three regions of the north would witness the construction of dugouts for dry season farming.

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By: Frederick Awuni/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Gov’t to support training of journalists – Hamid appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He said he will also help GBC roll-out innovative ways of collecting TV licenses.

[contextly_sidebar id=”nBTNTY6b8WwIsj5bIlTsAghoOCJqyOZI”]Speaking before Parliament’s Appointments Committee, Mustapha Hamid said he will work to make the state broadcaster a major brand that could be competitive on the international scene.

“I think that is important that we work towards GBC a ‘BBC’, if you want where it is able to raise its own money and be very independent of government control even in terms of government subvention so that we can position it as a global player on the international scene.”

The State Broadcaster appears to be losing out in Ghana’s media space following the infiltration of many private media establishments competing in the same space.

A recent survey by Geopoll placed GTV, the state Television, 6^th out of 9 major television stations in Ghana, based on audience share.

Many players in the media industry have observed that the broadcaster’s challenge in keeping up with the market, can be addressed if there is enough capital investment to acquire modern equipment and improve infrastructure.

Others have also suggested that the State broadcaster be privatized to ensure efficiency in operations.

But according to the minister nominee, GBC is currently applying some innovative ways of collecting TV license fees, which is mainly used to finance it.

GBC’s efforts to collect the fees remains a challenge as there is a general apathy among the populace in paying the fees. But according to Mustapha Hamid, GBC’s innovation to allow Ghanaians pay their fees via their mobile phones among other innovating ways will help improve its operations.

‘Broadcasting bill’

Mustapha Hamid told the Committee that, he would help ensure that the country’s Broadcasting Bill, which defines parameters of broadcasting in the country and provide sanctions for media entities who flout it, is passed before the end of the 4-year term of the government.

‘TV signal quality’

He further noted that, he will provide support and ensure financial resources are made available to GBC to enable it complete a ‘modernization project’ aimed at improving the quality of its signal across the country. #

He said he had made a proposal to the ministry of finance for a budgetary allocation that will help complete the program.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor

The post We’ll make GBC viable and competitive – Mustapha Hamid appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.