Accra (Greater Accra), 27th April ?99 ?

Mr John Mahama, Minister of Communications, on Monday urged African media to promote peace on the continent by not writing or broadcasting news items that will incite the people to engage in conflicts and wars.

The media in Africa, he said, have a great responsibility to ensure that peace prevails on the continent.

"If the Western media sees nothing positive and constructive about Africa besides hunger, disease, starvation, wars and poverty, the African media has a duty to tell at least the other side of the story".

This was contained in an address read for him by Mr B.C Eghan, Chief Director of the Ministry, at the opening of a two-day international workshop in Accra. It is under the theme "Media for peace in Africa - How to provide support and reinforcement".

The workshop, organised by Institute Panons, is being attended by representatives from Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Burundi and Senegal. There are observers from the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), ECOWAS, UNESCO and the West Africa Journalists Association (WAJA).

Mr Mahama said the media in Africa should publish news that would unite the people for peace, stability and not the type that will incite them into conflicts and wars.

"In Ghana, our young democracy has so far succeeded in making it possible for Ghanaian media men and women to operate in a free environment which the media practitioners themselves can help to sustain to grow to the benefit of all.

"It must be admitted that the media in Africa has had to operate in a rather hostile and unstable political environment. But gradually things are changing and it may take sometime before the entire continent will be free of intimidation as far as the medic is concerned."

Mr Mahama said the media's role should now go beyond its traditional role of informing, educating and entertaining because it must set agenda for society, defend the rights of the public, serve as watchdogs and provide government with the genuine feeling of ordinary people in the street.

Mrs. Jeanette Quarcoopme, Co-ordinator of the workshop, said it would discuss issues about how best the African journalists would cover conflicts on the continent.

She said they would examine the possibility of establishing a regime that would have the mechanism of supporting African journalists to have access to information which the foreign media sometimes have to the disadvantage of the local media