BlueCrest College Holds Maiden Forum On Media Business And Professional Journalism

BlueCrest College, a leading tertiary educational institution in Ghana has held a forum on Media Business and Professional Journalism in Accra.

The forum themed, Managing Media Organizations as Business Entities and Impact on Professional Journalism brought together key media professionals, academicians, policy makers and students to dialogue on ethical journalistic practices and how such practices will contribute towards building a stronger media industry in Ghana.

Speaking at the forum, ace investigative freelance journalist, Mannasseh Azuri Awuni admonished students to remain ethical as they aspire to become future journalists. He challenged the students to take advantage of opportunities available on social media to write and publish their works and not wait till they finish school before they start looking for a job with a media house, which according to him, may be nonexistent.

Mannaseh Azuri, freelance investigative journalist giving a speech at the event

‘’Students should take advantage of the training they get in school to develop their skills and build their capacity. It is meaningless coming out of school with a first class degree but lacking in the basic skills that will make you industry fit’’ he noted.

He again mentioned that though there are challenges that journalists face everyday in their line of duty, such challenges should rather encourage practitioners and not deter them from doing their work.

A fellow journalist and panelist on the programme, Gilbert Abeiku Santana, an award winning radio show host with Okay FM, also outlined a number of strategies that media organisations can adopt to be the preferred brand in the midst of keen competition in the media environment.

Mr. Santana said the media industry in Ghana needs creativity and good branding strategy beyond professionalism to survive in the fast growing media space. ‘’ As a broadcaster, I have my brand and though my brand is still evolving I manage to stand out so my audience will always be associated with what I offer’’ he intimated.

The Rector of the college, Dr. Anand Agrawal on his part, was full of praise for the media environment in Ghana. He mentioned that though he has not stayed in the country for too long, he was so impressed with the vibrant media in Ghana and the level of professionalism exhibited in some of the reports he reads in newspapers and ones on radio and television.

‘The BlueCrest college is a great platform we have developed to train students to be the best in the market. With our modern state of the art radio and television studios, a student is to expect nothing but the best of training and this is aimed at building their capacity to be good professionals in the media space’’, he stated.

The BlueCrest College presently runs certificate, diploma and degree programmes in business administration, mass communication and journalism, information and communication technology and fashion and design.