3-day training workshop on Investigative Journalism opens in Ashanti Region

A 3-day training workshop on Investigative Journalism on Free Movement and Migration is currently underway in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional Capital with the participation of 20 frontline journalists selected from major media networks in the region.

Welcoming participants to the workshop, Kingsley Hope, Regional Chairman of the Ghana Journalists Association, admonished journalists in the region to focus on enhancing their knowledge in specific disciplines in order to become specialists in those areas.

He advised them to associate with other journalism networks in order to broaden their scope of operation.

President of the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association, Andrew Danso-Ahenkora, in his opening remarks, acknowledged the need for journalists to acquire in-depth knowledge on migration issues in order to properly articulate their views and educate the public against the negative consequences of irregular migration.

He further expressed satisfaction with the cohort of proactive journalists who have been selected for the training.

In his statement, Superintendent Essien, Ashanti Regional Command, Ghana Immigration Service, explained the ECOWAS protocol on free movement of goods and persons, rights of residence and establishment and assured participants of his commitment to the project and its intended outcomes.

Elizabeth Kankam Boadi, Regional Manager of the Ghana News Agency stated that the workshop has come at an opportune time since it will help broaden the knowledge of journalists in the region to enable journalists unearth the reasons why people migrate from forest regions to seek greener pastures in a desert.

Regional Manager of the Information Services Department, Dina Ditas, commended Media Response, IOM, EU and ECOWAS for organizing the workshop. She admonished participants to fully participate in the event in order to strengthen their knowledge in migration and investigative journalism.

During the 3-day training, participants will be taken through the following topics – Basic knowledge on migration; Understanding migration concepts and data sources; Migration, development and the context of free movement and migration; Irregular migration, human trafficking and security; Media practice, investigative journalism and migration research; Techniques of investigative journalism on migration; Ethics and investigative journalism on migration; Reporting on migration – writing the story.

According to Samuel Dodoo, Executive Director of Media Response, the training aims at providing the participants adequate understanding of migration, essentially the basic elements that are necessary for a journalists to report on it and thereby educate the public on the dangers of human trafficking and irregular migration.