Do more for national development - Minister tells media

Takoradi, June 12, - Mr. Baba Jamal, a Deputy Minister of Information, has encouraged journalists and other media practitioners to act as catalyst= s for development rather than creating chaos and unnecessary tension in the country. "You should remember that aside your profession, you are a citizen o= f the country and so must endeavour to contribute your quota through positive and objective reportage towards the development of the country," he advised. Mr. Jamal said this at a meeting with media practitioners in the Western Region to solicit their support in moving the country forward towards realising the Better Ghana Agenda. He urged media practitioners to criticize constructively and also provide government with ideas and proposals that could be used in harnessin= g the country's development.

Mr. Jamal noted that the new paradigm shift in the country's democra= tic growth could not be achieved without the support of the media, adding that, the Ministry was willing to partner every one who had the development of th= e nation at heart.

He said that the NDC Government was committed to providing a trusted leadership, stressing, 93we want to remove all suspicion and mistrust." Mr. Jamal noted that the ministry was also creating a database on the 1= 0 regions of Ghana for easy access of information on the various regions as part of the Branding Ghana initiative. The Ministry, he said, had therefore tasked all regional offices of the Information Services Department to collect data on the various districts across the country.

"The Ministry is currently collecting slogans from all the regions,= " he said, and noted that starting next year, the DVLA will emboss these slogans on new car registration to serve as some form of identity. The Brong Ahafo, has the slogan -=91The Best of All,' the Western Reg= ion -=91The Best Comes from the West,' Eastern Region - 91The Best Starts fr= om the East,' Upper West 96 91The Smile of the Xylophone,' 91Upper East - =91The Light of the North.' Some of the regions are yet to produce a slogan. Mr. Jamal said he was unhappy about the misuse of national emblems, particularly, the Coat of Arms and urged the media to create more awarenes= s against its abuse so that the symbol does not lose it national importance and dignity.

Captain Rtd Anthony Cudjoe, Metropolitan Chief Executive of the Sekondi/Takoradi, told the media not to forget their responsibility of setting national agenda saying, 93Now it is serial callers that set the agenda for the media houses."

He said media houses also devoted too much time and space to funeral announcements at the expense of developmental stories. He said: 93Go to th= e UK and other places, you will not see funeral announcement in papers, the pages are rather devoted to developmental news". Captain Cudjoe, therefore, called on practitioners to live by the tenets of the journalism profession and support the government in its quest to develop the country.