Accra, April 16, GNA - Mr Kofi Assuman, Managing Director of the New Times Corporation, on Thursday said the Management would re-package and re-launch the Evening News, a newspaper in the New Times stable that folded up about four years. He therefore called on the new board members of the corporation to assist the organization to put back the Evening News on the stands.

Mr Assuman said this when the National Media Commission inaugurated the New Board chaired by Mr David Newton, Rector of the Ghana Institute of Journalism. "The New Times Corporation is in critical but not hopeless situation and needs a dynamic and result-oriented board to help in its rejuvenation and resuscitation from the doldrums," he added. He pointed out that there was fierce competition on the newspaper market coming from both the electronic and print media and expressed the hope that the new board would help in their effort to completely lift up the image of the organization. He commended the former board for the hard work that had helped the organization to survive the competition and said: "We are gradually making an impact." Mr Paul Adu-Gyamfi, Chairman of the National Media Commission, commended the staff of the New Times Corporation for the relative industrial peace the organization was enjoying.

He said the New Times Corporation was a key element in the African enlightenment project of Dr Kwame Nkrumah to help re-orient Ghanaians. "We need, as a nation to return to those high values the founding fathers erected our nation upon.our thriving democracy, our growing economy, the warmth of our people, show that our leadership of Africa is not a hoax."

"We need a media industry that understands this philosophy and shares a positive vision with us," Mr. Adu-Gyamfi said and expressed confidence that the Ghanaian Times newspaper was a natural leader in the process. He urged the new board to revisit the question of staff welfare in a bid to motivate them to continue to serve their nation to the best of their abilities. Mr Newton acknowledged that the task was daunting but expressed the belief that the team was formidable and could do it.

He proposed a meeting with the management anytime soon to have a quick review of policies within the organization to enable the board members to know the problems and to help solve them scientifically. On staff welfare, Mr Newton said there was the need to develop a scheme of service which would transparently spell out rules and regulations that would help make the staff productive and also increase their remuneration.

"We need to also put in place a monitoring and evaluating scheme to enable us to measure our successes," he said, and advised the staff to do away with petty rancour and cooperate with the board to help lift the image of the organization. "I believe that the New Times corporation has the potential and capacity to make an impact on Ghana's media landscape," he said. Other members of the board are Mr Nyamekye Kwame Owusu, Togbe Adom Drayi, Mrs Jeannette Quarcoopome, Mr Robert Baidoo Jnr., Dr (Mrs) Sika Ahadzie, Mrs Emma Asiedu and Mr Kofi Assuman.