The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has called on journalists to be mindful of their safety as they discharge their special duty call of providing information and educating the public on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mrs. Linda Asante-Agyei, the Vice President of the GJA, who made the call, said: As frontline media personnel, let us ensure our safety first as we go round discharging our duties to our dear mother Ghana”.

She said the virus was no respecter of persons and journalists must take all the necessary precautionary measures to live to tell their stories.

Speaking at a Safety workshop for some selected journalists in the Ashanti region in Kumasi, the Vice President asked journalists not to sensationalise reporting on COVID-19, since that could heighten anxiety.

The workshop was organised by the GJA in partnership with the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) with funding from the Norwegian government.

Participants were taken through how to effectively report on COVID-19 while taking precautionary measures, and ethical reporting.
Mrs Asante-Agyei asked journalists to always report accurately and factually since the public depended on them for the right information.

Mrs. Asante-Agyei advised media houses to introduce innovative and diversified educational programmes on COVID-19 to deepen the citizens’ knowledge and break the myths some people have about the virus.

Dr. Obaapayin Acquaah-Nyarko, the Ashanti Regional Treasurer of the Ghana Medical Association, who took participants through the nature of the virus, how it spreads, and the preventive measures, indicated that most people who were currently contracting the virus were asymptomatic.

She said social distancing must, therefore, be taken seriously, explaining that, everybody maintained at least six-feet distance from the other person when in public places.

Dr. Acquaah-Nyarko advised journalists to ensure regular disinfection of their equipment such as the microphones, recorders, and cameras they worked with and advised that” It will be better if you do not use your mobile phones in recording as you you have been doing.