Media urged to bring issues of corruption to light

The Media must help the fight against corruption by highlighting issues of alleged corrupt practices in order to promote good governance and business integrity.

An independent, pluralistic free press, with trained journalists who have unfettered access to information, was essential to effectively investigate corruption and raise public awareness on its impact.

Madam Awelana Addah, Programmes Manager of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), stated these at a capacity building workshop on Business Integrity Reporting organised by GII for some selected journalists in Kumasi.

It formed part of GII’s on-going Multi-Stakeholder Business Integrity Forum (MSBIF) project which is being funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The aim was to create a platform for private sector businesses, media practitioners, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the public sector, to dialogue and find solutions to challenges relating to doing business in the country.

It was also to help improve the capacity in business integrity reporting, to increase awareness of the impact of corruption on the private sector businesses.

Madam Addah said business integrity was an indispensable element for sustainable long term business growth and national development.

She said there was the need for the media to be informed and empowered to educate the public about the negative impact of corruption on economic development.

Madam Addah said the watchdog role of the media must be harnessed to enable them monitor and investigate issues of corruption to help promote transparency and accountability in all sectors.

Mr Kofi Adu-Domfeh, a Senior Journalist and facilitator at the workshop, urged journalists to ensure that their stories were well investigated, adding that, the stories they file should have a positive impact on society.

He called on journalists to uphold integrity in every area of their practice and investigate stories sent by whistle blowers properly before publishing them.