Kwaku Krobea Asante, the Senior Program Manager for Media Foundation West Africa, emphasized the critical importance of a newly launched training initiative aimed at empowering journalists in conflict-prone regions of West Africa.

In an interview with the media, Kwaku Krobea Asante, Program Manager for Media Foundation West Africa, stated, “It’s becoming increasingly important for us to provide this kind of training, given the current context in the West African sub-region. There is a lot happening in terms of extremist organization activities and fundamentalists in neighboring countries. Burkina Faso shares a porous border with us to the North, and anything could happen there. Additionally, we are heading towards a highly contested election, and the media plays a crucial role in reporting on these activities. These two contexts are the reasons why we brought journalists together for training. We aim to enhance their capacities in conflict-sensitive reporting, peace journalism, fact-checking, and reporting on elections, so that they can present news that fosters peace, stability, and democratic consolidation in Ghana.”

We provided training on understanding conflict-sensitive reporting, peace journalism, disinformation, and fact-checking. Our expectation is that the trained journalists will return to their newsrooms and influence their colleagues to report on these issues in a more responsible manner. Traditional practices in newsrooms can contribute to spreading false narratives and undermining peace and stability, so we want them to raise questions about these practices,” he added.

“We all agree that the media is a major stakeholder in elections, so our training sessions have been fulfilling the public’s expectations. The emphasis was on being fair and objective in reporting, and the importance of fact-checking to gain the respect of all parties involved,” Kwaku Krobea Asante further emphasized.

Charles Brafour Adarkwah, the news editor for Wontumi Multimedia, also commented on the program, saying, “We need to avoid promoting political violence in our reporting. It is not helpful if the media allows individuals to attack opponents without any control. We must adhere to ethical and professional standards in our work, even if it means not satisfying the interests of political parties in the short run.