Sam Jonah: Ghana needs 'thinking' Journalists

Former AngloGold Ashanti President Sir Sam Jonah has called for a new breed of Journalists and communicators who can influence thinking in society.

“Journalism has changed from when journalists only reported the news, today they are expected to make intelligent commentary and analysis, they seed minds and set the agenda for most issues,” Dr. Jonah said at the launch of the Sam E. Jonah School of Business at the African University College of Communication (AUCC) in Accra on Friday, June 28, 2013.

Dr. Jonah, who is the Executive Chairman of Jonah Capital, an equity fund based in Johannesburg, South Africa said: “This requires a new kind of Journalist”.

AUCC started with 60 Ghanaian students, but currently has 1400 students from 15 African countries.

It is expected, according to Dr. Jonah, to be named by UNESCO in 2014 as a Centre of Excellence in communication education.

The school’s business school was named after Dr. Jonah by its President Mr. Kojo Yankah as a “personal honour” of the astute Ghanaian Businessman.

According to Mr. Yankah, “it is time, in our opinion, for Africans to honour and immortalise the names of men and women who have impacted society”. Dr. Jonah says he expects the Jonah Business School to “train people to be globally knowledgeable, but locally relevant problem solvers”, adding that: “There will be less emphasis on monetising human values”.

He stressed: “Training must humanise and give leaders a keen sense of connection to our common reality; one that does not make them aloof and detached from the misery of the average person”. According to him, “Our training must make our students capable of putting themselves in ‘other people’s shoes’, assuming the burdens of others; and giving them a passion to alleviate poverty”.

He added: “They must be entrepreneurial and compassionate; must be ethical; must have integrity; must have a clear vision of what is best for the individual and also the general good; must have the ability to draw a balance between short-term decision making and long-term value”.