Facilitators at a recent media training for 21 Catholic Sisters in Ghana’s Ashanti Regional capital of Kumasi have told them that journalism is a noble profession which needs to be cherished and respected by all.
“Journalism is a noble profession although it doesn’t pay much,” Mr. Robert Dela Mawuenyegah, the Executive Secretary of NewsWatch Media and Communications stated on January 17.
The January 16 to 20, 2023 training at the Centre for Spiritual Renewal, Santasi, Kumasi, was organised by the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious, Ghana in partnership with Global NewsWatch Media and Communications.
The tarining was enriched with educative topics such as introduction to journalism, communication, basics in news writing, ethical standards , interview skills, live streaming on facebook and using of social media for evangelisation.
Mr. Mawuenyegah noted that though the profession wasn’t financially lucrative, there was joy in practicing journalism but cautioned the Sisters to ensure they adhered to the qualities required in the profession which include truthfulness and accuracy.
He educated the Sisters on the need to respect the privacy of people and seek their consent as a key rule and one of the ethical considerations.
On his part, Mr. Damian Avevor, Director of News and Editorial of the Global NewsWatch Media and Communications, enumerated potentials that determine authentic news writing as immediacy, clarity, conciseness, educative, factual and informative.
He told the Sisters that “Journalistic report writing differs from secretarial writing, therefore, writing a news story for a Catholic News Agency demands fundamental skills to be acquired.”
Mr. Benedictus Adzah, a co-facilitator specialised in photography and videography, presented a practical lecture on the different parts of the camera and its uses.
He said the camera is used for different functions such as for production, post production, live production, and pre pro-production and urged the sisters to make good use of their camera phones to take photos of their Congregational activities.
By Sr. Maria Goretti Onwuatuegwu, DC//Newswatchgh.com
