National Media Commission Visits GNA

Nana Apau Duah, Managing Director of the Ghana News Agency (GNA), yesterday said despite the challenges facing the Agency it was poised to overcome them to accomplish its mission.

Nana Duah, who was speaking when a team from the National Media Commission (NMC) visited the Headquarters of the Agency in Accra, said it was working hard in spite of difficult financial conditions and noted: 'GNA is more focused and would jump all hurdles to exert its strategic importance.'  With over 200 stringers spread across the country, GNA he noted, covered Ghana more than any other media institution and would not rest on its oars.
 

Nana Duah said the Agency had improved its Business Department and would be setting up business desks in the regions to increase its revenue base adding that the agency generated about 30,000 Ghana Cedis annually and this was paid into the Consolidated Fund.
   

The Ministry of Public Sector Reforms has allocated 400,000 dollars to procure a server, computers, a vehicle and equipment for the Business Department, he said.   He expressed appreciation to the Government for providing the Agency with 10 pickups to facilitate its work.
   

Mr Boakye-Dankwa Boadi, Supervising Chief Editor, said one of the cardinal principles of the Agency was writing balanced stories. He observed that sometimes one sided stories and grammatical errors slipped through the system but whenever this happened, corrections were sent.
   

He said about 90 per cent of news aired by radio stations in the country were taken from the GNA but noted that unfortunately most of them were not credited to the Agency.
 

Mr Kwaku Rockson, Member of the Commission, asked the Management to spread its advertising net to cover a large client base and also to consult the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) on how to authenticate GNA stories and set criteria for the wire service in it awards scheme.
   

Mr Nicholaus Akyire, also a member of the Commission, commended the Management for the frank deliberations and said the Commission would do all it could to assist the Agency.