Journalists must collaborate to effectively report on budget

Media outlets and journalists in Ghana have been urged to collaborate for a comprehensive coverage, analyse and follow up on provisions in the 2016 budget, scheduled to be read in Parliament today.

Mrs Chris Dadzie, Coordinator of the Institute for Fiscal Policy of the Integrated Social Development Centre said it is important for the media, being an important societal agent, to actively be involved in the budget process in Ghana.

She said the media’s engagement on the budget should not be limited to covering the presentation of the budget in Parliament, but also to the various stages of the budget cycle; from the formulation stage through the monitoring and evaluation to implementation.

She gave the advice at a day’s media stakeholder dialogue on key messages expected to be covered in the 2016 national budget in Accra on Thursday.

“We want to get the media together to strategise on how they can improve reporting and getting involved in the budget process at the various stages,” she stated.

He noted that it was also to discuss how to monitor the issues that come up from the budget reading tomorrow, the projections and the expenditures in more involved way.

Mrs Dadzie stated that the most important thing now is a follow up on the budget after it is read.

“We need to collaborate, otherwise the reporting would be scattered all over, so if possibly there is collaboration among media houses, then we’ll have enhanced reportage,” she said.

Participants at the forum, drawn from various media houses in Accra also expressed the need for journalists to build expertise in specific areas of the economy.

They said it is important for journalists to network with their peers in the media as well as with experts in various fields so as to have expert opinions on issues that come up in the budget and its implementation, instead of always relying on politicians’ opinions.