Minister for Information, Mr. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has called on journalists to make diversity an important consideration in their work at all times.
Speaking at the celebration of the world radio day in Accra yesterday, under the theme, ‘Radio and Diversity’, the minister, who was once a journalist himself said that practitioners should make it a point to “deliberately” tell every part of the story and give information in such a way that listeners will be able to make decisions on their own after balanced views and facts to stories are presented.
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“But the concept of diversity that we are preaching today means that for those of us who are anchoring newspapers, those of us who are in the industry; we must also be tolerant of other views and other perspectives. Indeed, we have to design our platforms so that it encourages diversity of opinion for the marginalized, for those at the top, those at the bottom ; the minority league. All must be reflected in the kind of conversations we want to have so that we won’t end up being the judges of the discussion. But a consumer at home will benefit from the various perspectives and in the end, makes up his or her mind.” he said.
Mr. Nkrumah went on to say that the first place to ensure diversity is in the newsroom so that the kind of content churned out is diverse and reflective of the various constituencies in the society. He also said that it is important to ensure diversity in the radio space by making sure there is diversity in the types of radio there are. According to him, more community based radio will come to help give a voice to the many community stories that needs to be heard.
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“A lot more community radio, knowing the commercial radio platforms we have today, will give a voice to a good chunk of the community issues that need to be addressed” he said, adding that commercial, and government owned radios most likely produce on kind of content
The minister also pointed out that there was the need also for diverse content that reflects various aspects of our national lives. He said areas like climate change, technology and gender must equally find their way in contents produced.
“Letting diversity reflect also means that all of us have to come together to support a pillar that connects very much with diversity ;that is the pillar of tolerance. Without tolerance we cannot have the diversity that we desire.” he said
ABOUT WORLD RADIO DAY
On 14th February, 2013, the UN declared 13th February as a day for the celebration of radio. This was aimed at using the day to raise greater awareness among the public and the media of the importance of radio; to encourage decision makers to establish and provide access to information through radio; as well as to enhance networking and international cooperation among broadcasters.
Click here to watch the UN General Antonio Guterres’ message on World Radio Day.
