Ho, Feb. 21, GNA - The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has advocated for the establishment of a Media Development Fund to support medi= a development in the country. The Fund when established would be managed by a board of trustees made up of representatives of major stakeholders in the media and journalists, and would be under the auspices of the National Media Commission. Mr Ransford Tetteh, President of the GJA, announced this at the launch of findings of the Ghana Media Standards Improvement Project (GMSIP) survey on Rural Radio Stations in Ghana and the regional re-launch of the GJA Code of Ethics at Ho in the Volta Region on Monday.

He said the Fund could be supported by individuals, corporate bodies an= d non-governmental organisations and government institutions. He said journalists and media organisations who intended to do investigative work and developmental reportage could apply for support from the fund. On the recent investigative work by Anas Aremeyaw Anas, Mr Tetteh said "we do not think it is unusual for institutions, corporate organisations and even government organisations to engage mainstream media by way of sponsorship. "We can attest to the fact that renowned international media houses in developed democracies do programmes in collaboration with institutions both governmental and non-governmental," he added.

Mr Tetteh noted that the cardinal principles that needed to be observe= d in such sponsorship arrangement included the non-interference of the hiring agency with the independence of the work of the journalist or media house. He said the re-launch of the code of ethics will serve as a reminder t= o all media practitioners to recommit themselves to the values and ideals of professionalism.

He said the GJA would encourage other media practitioners to expose corruption in the country, and expressed the hope that it would stop the stealing of public resources for selfish gains. Dr Margaret Amoakohene, Director of the School of Communication Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, in a presentation on 93Profiles of Ru= ral Radio Stations in Ghana", said there was the need for media owners to re-examine the salaries for media practitioners and remuneration for journalist. She said a survey indicated that most Rural Radio Stations did not have programme content to keep the stations running but would rather opt for affiliation to other 93big" stations.

"It seemed to highlight the fact that many of the rural radio station= s studied were predominantly located in Akan speaking areas," she said. "Since there were entire districts in Ghana which had no FM radio stations, whereas others had more than one, it may be necessary to re-examine the concentration of radio stations to determine how they contribute to undermine pluralism," Dr Amoakohene added.