AS a newspaper, we are obliged to inform, educate and entertain the reading public. This mandate of ours enables the public to be abreast of the goings-on in the country and around the globe. Furthermore, it helps the citizenry to make informed decisions.
HOWEVER, one key role which the media does is to set the agenda for the public through the day’s coverage and reportage. The media in Ghana does its best to give us the agenda each morning through the press as well as the radio and television morning reviews and other discussions thereof.
THROUGH the media highlights people are drawn into national discussions and the call-ins help the public to understand issues at stake and share their views on them. The agenda-setting role of the media in Ghana has, to some extent, helped in informing and educating the populace and hence the level of discernment in the Ghanaian of today, be it in political, social or economic issues.
HOWEVER, we need for our media to go even further than what they are doing now. Many more people, especially those who do not have access to newspapers or on-line news, solely rely on what news they are able to gather from the radio and television to take decisions.
THANKS to the proliferation of the media and the liberation of our airwaves, FM stations are now in all localities and therefore many more are depending on them for their education on national and local issues on daily basis.
THERE are many gaps in our information sharing. As media people, we are not able to follow through stories we put out there and hence leave our readers, listeners and viewers hanging as to the full story behind the stories. For example, we do not do much follow-ups to stories we put out there and so the public is left in the dark.
SOMETIMES we only scrape the surface of our stories and do not give the public the benefit of any deep insights. So, there is more room for the media to broaden their scope and go even deeper, behind the scenes, do critical follow-ups and leave no room for anyone, especially our politicians to misinform or better still, set different agenda for the public.
IT is in line with this agenda-setting role of the media that Today, an independent daily newspaper with a vibrant on-line edition, instituted the Today Lecture Series in 2014.
THE Today Lecture Series is an annual event which sees the Editorial Team of Today newspaper choose a subject of national importance and invite distinguished personalities and experts to share their perspectives on the chosen topic.
SINCE the establishment of this agenda-setting national discourse, it must be pointed out that Today has successfully held three impactful Today Lectures.
The maiden edition of the Today Lecture Series which talked about the “State of the Ghanaian Economy” was organised on March 27th, 2014 with Economist, Mr. Sydney Casely-Hayford, as the Principal Speaker.
THE second Today Lecture—“Is the Judiciary Under Siege? How Secured is the Chief Justice Under the 4th Republican Constitution?” had the President and founder of Legal Advocacy Foundation, Dr. Maurice Ampaw, as the main speaker. This came off in 2015
AND the 3rd Lecture, which topic was: “Reforming Ghana’s Electoral System: A pre-condition for Peaceful Elections in 2016,” held on March 22, 2016. The speakers were former Senior Political Science Lecturer, Dr. Kwesi Jonah and IT Consultant, Kwasi Boakye-Akyeampong.
TODAY, Thursday, July 20, 2017 Today, in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications, will be holding its 4th Annual Lecture. The theme for this year’s Lecture is: “Using Digital Technology To Accelerate Businesses Growth.”
WITH digital technology fast taking over most of our activities, Today deemed it expedient to carve a topic out of it to see how best businesses in this country can take this advantage to grow their businesses.
THE Special Guest of Honour for the programme is the Minister for Communications, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, with Board Chairman of National Communication Authority (NCA), Kwaku Sakyi-Addo, chairing the event.
SPEAKERS for the day include the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Vodafone Ghana, Yolanda Cuba; GM, Micro Enterprise – GN Bank, Kofi Asamoah Siaw; and Kwasi Boakye-Akyeampong, IT Professional.
IT is, therefore, our expectation that our 4th Today Annual Lecture will offer businesses in the country ideas on how to tap into digital technology to expand.
ON this note, we wish all those who will be attending today’s lecture a fruitful event and one that will impact positively on their businesses.
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