IAMMIA Begins Media Monitoring Exercise

The Institute of Africa Media Monitoring Intelligence and Advocacy (IAMMIA), a non-governmental media research organization is embarking on a media monitoring research exercise to track and analyze contents to ascertain the level of commitment of the media and the various stakeholders in the fight against the galamsey menace in the country.

The research exercise is focusing on the space and airtime allotted to the discussion and publication of issues of galamsey, barley a month after the Media Coalition Against Galamsey launched its campaign to fight the menace.

The Media Coalition Against Galamsey (MCAG) launched its campaign dubbed “Lets Stop Galamsey” last week as part of efforts to sensitize the public to the menace and also seek support to flush out the illegal miners.

The coalitions included the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA), Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, GBC, Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) and the Private Newspaper Publishers Association (PRINPAG). The intervention was as a result of the extent at which Ghana’s major water bodies and forest reserves have been completely destroyed as a result of illegal mining activities across all the regions.

The campaign is therefore meant to be a wake-up call to the harm being done to water bodies and the vegetation by the illegal miners. The Institute of Africa Media Monitoring Intelligence and Advocacy (IAMMIA) which is a key partner of the intervention is therefore scientifically researching on how the media have committed themselves in the fight against the menace. IAMMIA started the monitoring exercise a day after the launch of the media coalition campaign and is expected to publish findings of the research next month.

The Executive Director of IAMMIA, Dr. Messan Mawugbe, is of the view that, findings of the research exercise will re-ignite media outlets that were not active or did not show much commitment in the fight against the menace a month after the launch of the campaign. He said as a partner of the media coalition intervention, IAMMIA will continuously carry out the exercise to ensure that, the objective of the coalition is met. IAMMIA is an alliance of the Center for Media Analysis (CMA), Ghana`s leading media research agency.

Dr. Messan Mawugbe who has vast experience in strategic media monitoring and research and seek to scientifically track and measure media contents to promote peace, democracy, development and strategic business communication in Africa.