Govt. serves up 600 Better Ghana Laptops to Journalists

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Mahama Ayariga presenting the laptop to Director, Bernard Otabil, GNA General Managing

Mahama Ayariga presenting the laptop to Director, Bernard Otabil, GNA General Managing

Government, as part of efforts to help build the capacity of the media in Ghana, has distributed 596 rlg laptops to media practitioners across the country.

The laptops were given to the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), Ghana News Agency (GNA), Information Services Department (ISD), Institute for Public Relations (IPR) and Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG) for distribution to it members.

The District Directors of the Information Services Department and Regional Information officers were also given laptops and internet modems to aid them in their operations.

During the presentation of the laptops to representatives of the Associations in Accra, Mahama Ayariga, Minister of Information and Public Relations, said the move was to ensure effective and efficient media.

According to him, the laptops and internet modems would help journalists to write and send stories to beat deadlines.

The minister said there is over emphasis on political information to the detriment of social and economic issues which does not auger well for the country.

He therefore urged the media to place more emphasizes on economic and social issues to enable the general public to keep abreast with happenings in those sectors.

Mr. Ayariga gave the assurance that the Right to Information Bill (RTB) and the broadcasting bill would be laid before parliament for passage into law.

According to the Minister, President Mahama directed him to ensure that the Bill is forwarded to Parliament when it resumes sitting.

He said government is determined to ensure that the Bill is passed into law this year to ensure transparency and accountability in public affairs.

Mr. Ayariga said Government will resume its weekly media briefing sessions on Thursday, April 11 at the Flagstaff House.

He said the press briefing will be opened to editors or news editors of various media houses in the country, adding that media institutions should submit questions or issues at least two days ahead of the date.

Mr. Ayariga said questions should be forwarded through Ghana Journalists Association, the Private Newspapers Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG) or the Minister of Information and Media Relations.
He said the mid-week media briefing follows an agreement between the Ministry of Information and Media Relations and the various associations to create a platform to improve flow of government information.

The minister underscored the role information officers play in the dissemination of Government programmes and policies to the citizenry and announced that Government would run a series of capacity training for information officers to increase their productivity and relevance in society.

Mr. Ayariga said the district information officers would soon be required to set up and manage websites to inform the citizenry on Government programmes and policies.

 By Cephas Larbi

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