Give more attention to issues on culture - Prof Hagan

Feb 5, 2009
Page 24

THE Chairman of the National Commission on Culture (NCC), Prof George Hagan, has underscored the need for the media to give ample space and time to cultural issues.
He said that could be achieved if media personnel deepened their understanding of such issues which formed a vital part of the society.
According to him, media practice was a cultural thing, as it reflected what went on in society.
Speaking at a three-day training programme for 25 journalists drawn from across the country, Prof Hagan deplored the lack of in-depth reportage on what took place on the country’s cultural landscape.
The training workshop for journalists reporting on culture was organised by the Cultural Initiatives Support Programme (CISP).
The topics treated included the Context and Content of Culture in Ghana’s Development, Reflecting on Cultural Festivals, Cultural Tourism and Cultural Sites, Practical Problems in Reporting on Culture and How to Cover the Cultural Beat.
Prof Hagan stressed the need for the syllabuses of schools to also have time for cultural issues, adding that journalism training institutions should also factor arts and culture reporting in their programmes.
Rating the relative performance of the media that paid some attention to cultural issues, he said radio was ahead, followed by television and the print media, adding that it was time adequate space was devoted by all sections of the media to a comprehensive coverage of cultural issues.
He said in order to ensure adequate coverage of cultural issues, there was the need for media practitioners to be educated and knowledgeable about those issues to enable them to report better.
Prof Hagan called for a national discourse on cultural issues to create awareness among the populace.
He said culture, which was, among other things, the totality of the life of a people, should be recognised as a basis for national development.
The Programme Co-ordinator of CISP, Mr Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng, said there was the need for the media to focus on cultural reporting.
The training programme, he said, aimed at building the skills of journalists to cover the broad range of subjects that comprised culture and help them to adopt more innovative ways of approaching coverage in the area of culture.
In addition, he said, the programme was to help journalists to publish stories produced during the training, as well as encourage them to share experiences and support one another’s professional development in the area of arts and culture reporting.
The training, which was both theoretical and practical, was addressed by experienced resource persons.
They included Dr Audrey Gadzekpo, the acting Director of the School of Communications Studies of the University of Ghana; Efo K. Mawugbe, a former Director of the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFAC); Mr Kofi Akpabli, a travel writer; Mr Gerald Annan-Forson, a lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ); Nanabanyin Dadson, the Editor of the Graphic Showbiz; Mr Enimil Ashong, the Editor of the Ghanaian Times, and Mr Daniel Appiah-Adjei, the Programme Officer of CISP.