All is set for the Ghana Journalists Association’s 27th awards ceremony to be held on Sunday, October 29, 2023.
The awardees include five journalists of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, namely Beatrice Senadu, Akua Oforiwa Darko, Kwaku Bolten, Gifty Adjei, and Doreen Ampofo.
Others are Godwin Asediba, Eric Mensah-Ayettey-Media General, Anthony Adongo Apubeo – GNA, Della Russel Ocloo – Daily Graphic, Vivian Adu – Atinka Media, Fred Duhoe – CitiTV, Alberto Mario Noretti – The Mirror, Seth Bokpe – The Fourth Estate, Emma Davies – MultiMedia Group, Mohammed Fugu – Daily Graphic, Francisca Enchil – Freelance, via Joynews,
The rest are Edward Adeti – The Fourth Estate/Media without Borders, Erastus Asare Donkor – Multimedia Group, Emmanuel Dzivenu – Joy Prime, Efia Akese – The Mirror, Kester Aburam Korankye – Daily Graphic, Ridwan Karim Dini-Osman – EIB network, Felix Dela Klutse – Pent Media Centre, Neta Kris Abiana Parsram – Multimedia Group, Godwin Asediba – Media General, and Collincia Ayifa – Student journalist via Multimedia Group,
The other media organisations to be recognised are Media General, UTV, Joy FM/Joy News, Daily Graphic and Atinka Media.
The event, which has the theme, “Leveraging media freedom to sustain the democratic and security architecture! The litmus test of election 2024”, will be held at the International Conference Centre.
Announcing the awardees at a press conference in Accra on October 25, 2023, the Chairperson of the Awards Committee, Mrs. Betty Apau-Oppong, stated that the committee received a total of 127 entries for the 34 categories. These included 15 submissions from students and 16 from media houses.
Mrs. Betty Apau-Oppong noted that there was a significant improvement in the entries for the year under review- 2022 over the previous year’s entries. This development, she observed, is a testament to improvement in the performance of the media.
The chairperson, however, bemoaned the limited number of entries received for radio as well as the number that were entered in the wrong categories.
The President of the GJA, Mr. Albert Dwumfour, congratulated the award winners for their dedication to media practice and telling the most impactful stories.
“Journalism is a social responsibility and you have demonstrated that social responsibility through your work. We commend you for that,” he said.
Mr. Dwumfuor explained that the theme for this year’s awards is “shaped by the importance that media freedom places on the advancement of democracy and the safeguarding of national security. The GJA believes that Election 2024 will serve as a litmus test for the democratic and security framework of the nation.”
He, therefore, urged media practitioners to “play a significant role in guaranteeing success in this test, but only under a media freedom regime that is conducive to the process.”
Sponsorship for the 27th Ghana Journalists Awards is headlined by GCB Bank. The major sponsors are the US Embassy, KGL Group, Ghana Gas, ADB, Tobinco Group, and EOCO. The supporting sponsors are; GBC, Ghana Police Service, Access Bank, Stanbic Bank, SSNIT, Inolink, GHAPOHA, Ghana Shippers Authority, and National Security.