News:
February 20, 2022
The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin on Friday, February 18, 2022 commissioned an ultra-modern News Centre for Members of the Parliamentary Press Corps.
He cautioned the Parliamentary Reporters not to forget one of the cardinal rules of Journalism by cross-checking their facts before publication.
According to him the New Standing Orders which would be adopted very soon will allow reporters to attend all Committee Sittings therefore Editors at various media houses should be mindful to post Journalists with the requisite experience to report from Parliament.
He noted that the commissioning of the centre has taken too long in coming despite it is a priority their agenda did not capture it until recently when his attention was drawn to it by the Dean of the PPC and “I have to decide that we have to do it today Friday, February 18,2022 and leaders having short notice”.
Speaker Bagbin reminded the media and particularly the general public that, the concept of parliament goes beyond the Speaker, Members of Parliament and members of the Parliamentary Service to also include the police division in Parliament, Ghana National Fire Service, the health personnel mounting the parliamentary clinic and the media.
“There are some other invisible elements working here that they do not see who are part of the national security, when we are fighting for parliament, and the public should know these entities, we take care of their operational cost and there are ways and means we try to motivate them”.
“So that they would not feel neglected and say if they were with their mother unit, “parties like the Parliamentary Press Corps are so key to the work of Parliament since 1993”, and pointed out that since the start of the fourth Republic the media has been under resourced.
The challenge to the media today is the citizen journalists, as working as journalists today is more demanding than it used to be cutting through both the new and traditional media channels in other to reach your audience can be an adieu’s task.
“In today’s era of fake news, the journalists has a duty to check and cross check before it publishes his or her news” to get it to the public for consumption, he added.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com