Cape Coast-Ghana, Dec 12, GNA – There is the need for newsrooms to urgently invest in the training of media professionals on the law for accurate reportage on crime and its related issues.
Ms Shamima Muslim, the Founder and Convener of Alliance for Women in Media(AWiM), said issues of human trafficking remained key global issues and the media needed to tackle it with the right law to put a spotlight on the issue to attract stakeholder support.
“Some media personnel are not equipped with knowledge on the law making it difficult for them to report on some critical issues of national interest.
Ms Muslim made the remark at an inception training for 14 selected young journalists across the country as part of the International Justice Mission’s (IJM) second cohorts Young Journalists Fellowship Program.
The one-year program is aimed at equipping the young journalists with knowledge and skills to effectively report on human trafficking.
It is also to ensure the young journalists became human trafficking advocates to tell the stories of survivors and encourage them to seek for the justice and protection.
The programme during the period, would see the fellows through training workshops, coaching sessions, networking events, cohort discussions and a grand closing ceremony to climax the fellowship and the celebration of efforts of the fellows to the fight against human trafficking.
It is on the theme: “Equipping the media to Be Partners in Ending Human Trafficking.”
Ms Muslim noted that human trafficking issues was sensitive and complex and therefore being informed on the law would direct and assist the journalists in producing comprehensive reports without any fear of judiciary implications.
She advised the fellows to ensure that reportage on human trafficking would not cause harm to the victims or put their lives at risk at the end.
Mr Will Lathrop, the Country Director of IJM, said the fellowship was targeted at providing advanced knowledge to journalists to enable them report safely in a way that informs their audience.
He called on the journalists to help eradicate the canker by constantly giving prominence to reports of human trafficking to gain attention of all.
The Country Director charged the journalists to lead the fight against human trafficking, do compelling reports and help fight the menace once and for all.
The fellows were trained on the use of tools for media campaigns, creative writing, ethics on human trafficking reports, the nature of human trafficking in Ghana, causes of human trafficking and ways to apply investigative skills to report effectively.
The fellows pledged their commitment to increase reports on human trafficking, advocate to cause change in the society and impact positively after the training.
IJM is a global anti-human trafficking non-governmental organization poised to bringing justice to every victim across the world.
