The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has launched the 25th GJA Awards in Accra dubbed,"COVID-19 and Credible Presidential and Parliamentary Elections: The Media Factor”.

Aside the usual categories of awards, the GJA is set to award outstanding journalists who have tirelessly worked amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Renowned journalists, including the President of GJA, GJA’s Executive Members, GJA Journalist of the Year, Miss Doreen Hammond, Rev. Emmanuel Asante, Chairman of the Programme and Sam Jonah, Keynote Speaker who participated virtually, were at the launch of the 25th GJA Awards.

Speaking at the launch, the President of GJA, Dr Rolland Affail Monney noted that despite the pandemic, Ghanaian journalists have sacrificed themselves, working for the good of the country therefore commending all journalists for their work.

He encouraged the media to keep on doing the good works they are known for, in order to develop the country as expected of them.

However, he urged the media not give attention to politicians who insight war especially during the election, rather, do what is called sorting, where journalists dig into the candidates and expose those that are inferior and as well make it known those who deserve to be leaders of the country.

He also stated that due to covid-19, 90 percent of the entries by potential winners will be done online, urging Journalist to go on the GJA website for further clarifications.

Giving the Keynote address, Ghanaian Businessman, Sir Sam Jonah who noted that the upcoming election will be a challenging time, especially amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, urged journalist to be circumspect in their reportage.

He also urged journalist to educate people more on the need to adhere to safety protocols, especially at the time that they are voting.

The Theme for this years’ awards, he said was timely and excellent, especially in the covid-19 era.

He Expressed fear over how COVID is being handled in the country, saying that people ignore the safety protocols in the midst of arguments, conversations amongst others, all in the name of election.

He therefore charged the media to be strong in the discharge of their duties and not sacrifice the fight of COVID-19 for political campaigns.

“Use your medium to ensure there is focus in the fight of the pandemic. The battle for coronavirus is far more important than the battle to decide who is the next president,” he said.