The State Must Provide Vehicles for Journalists, Support them with Standard Conditions of Service-Speaker Bagbin
Conditions of service for Journalists, from time immemorial has been at all time low despite the indispensable role the media play for the country’s democratic development.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), once said “there can not be Press Freedom when Journalists leave in conditions of poverty and fear” but this has fallen on deaf ears by government and State Institutions.
It against this background that the Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Alban Sumana Bagbin is advocating for the media to be supported by the state on issues of conditions of service which is nothing to write home about.
The Speaker could not fathom why the state supports Parliamentarians who are one of arm of government but can not give same support to members of the Fourth Estate who are the link between the citizenry and public office holders.
The Speaker made these comments at Kumasi in the Ashanti region when he met Journalists in the region as part of a national tour to commemorate 30 years of Parliamentary democracy.
“The media should not be allowed to fend for themselves. The state must provide standard conditions of service for them”, Hon. Bagbin stressed.
“…We should be able to reach out to the media. We should be able to support the media to be able to do their work”.
He said the conditions of service which Journalists have long demanded for is just a basic thing that the state can do for the media.
He added that demand for offices, vehicles and general conditions of service by Journalists to enhance their work is a cogent one that must be facilitated by the state given the media’s contributions to the state and support to all the three arms of government.
“Politicians will keep coming to you, public office holders will keep coming to you and you need vehicles to move round with them because you need to link them with the people. The people that we are serving.
You should not be allowed to sacrifice your rights in doing that public duty”, he emphasized.
The Speaker therefore assured the media of his resolve to ensure that the media is given what is due them as “the fourth arm” of government.
The GJA President Mr. Albert Kwabena Dwumfour who was also at the function spoke to Journalists in an interview after the function and lauded the Speaker for his advocacy for good conditions of service for Journalists.
He said the GJA will officially meet with the Speaker to deliberate more on how to make demands of conditions of service for Journalists come to fruition.
Source:newsflashafrica.com
