Media practitioners have been reacting to the Presidential Press Encounter which took place on December 19, 2018 at Banquet Hall of the Jubilee House.

From a thread of tweets and Facebook posts, members of the inky fraternity have not been enthused with this year’s encounter compared to last year which others also observed was an indication journalism has taken a nosedive in the country.

Last year, Professor Ransford Gyampo, Head of Political Science Department of the University of Ghana said the media woefully failed Ghanaians considering the kind of questions they asked President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo during the second media encounter at the Flagstaff House

The senior lecturer who was not enthused about the development, observed that traders would have done better indicating that some of the questions asked by the journalists did not elicit the kind of response the Ghanaian populace expected.

To this end, he observed that most Ghanaians have been left disappointed saying: “The performance of journalists in this year’s encounter was abysmal just like the previous oneself that continues then it should be scrapped; it is not the forum to sing praises or ask unnecessary questions.” In his view, detailed research wasn’t taken into account prior to the event”

At the 3rd encounter, Journalists themselves appear unhappy with the turn of events and vented their frustrations on social media.

If President @NAkufoAddo wants to deliver a speech, he could have waited for 31st night to do it. Don't call it a press encounter and spend 40 minutes delivering a monologue, and answering only 15 out of 70 potential questions from journalists. If you can't spell, don't write!

— Umaru Sanda Amadu (@UmaruSanda) December 19, 2018