President John Dramani Mahama has pledged the government’s commitment to support the public media to enable them to confront the challenges they face as a result of their unique mandates.
He differentiated the mandate of public media such as Graphic from private outlets, highlighting its duty to cover a wide range of subjects, including education, agriculture, and government policy, beyond sensational headlines.
President Mahama said the state media were enjoined to cover many areas, which were not necessarily attractive to audiences, hence the state needed to support them to discharge their duties without fail.
The President gave the assurance during a working visit to the premises of the nation’s leading newspaper group, the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), which he described as a critical standard-bearer of credible journalism in the nation.
The President, accompanied by the Minister of State in charge of Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, and other dignitaries, met the management of GCGL before engaging the enthusiastic staff of the company in the newsroom.
President Mahama also visited the Press House of the company to learn at first hand the operations of the facility, as well as Graphic’s subsidiary, Gpak, which does commercial printing.
The GCGL presented to President Mahama a framed front page of the Daily Graphic issue on his date of birth.
He stated that the move was part of a broader governmental decision to “uphold and raise up the public media.”
Yesterday’s visit, which he said was to see “the actual state” of the organisation firsthand, follows persistent discussions within Cabinet on the future of public media amid a rapidly transforming global media landscape driven by technology and new platforms.
Addressing the management and staff of the company, President Mahama lauded the enduring strength of the Graphic brand, saying its reputation for credibility remained unparalleled.
Graphic the standard
“Graphic is the leading newspaper in this country, and when it comes to credibility, Graphic is the standard,” the President stated.
“When people say ‘go and buy me Graphic,’ they mean newspapers. I think that you can be proud of the brand that Graphic continues to have,” he said to happy cheers and applause.
President Mahama acknowledged the disruptive impact of digital technology and the rise of new media, but commended GCGL for its successful foray into the digital space.
However, the President recognised the consequent financial pressures on the newspaper business, a challenge he described as global.
Concrete support
In response, he outlined concrete steps the government, as the sole shareholder, would take to ensure GCGL’s sustainability.
Key among these is support for the company’s commercial printing subsidiary, GPak.
President Mahama directed the Minister of Government Communications to collaborate with the Ministry of Education to ensure “a good proportion” of the government’s massive textbook and learning materials printing business was awarded to Graphic.
“I will back him 100 per cent to make sure that you can earn some money to be able to sustain the operations that you have,” he affirmed.
Furthermore, the President promised to direct a significant chunk of government advertisements and recruitment notices to the publications of the Group.
“You still are leading when it comes to advertising… we can still send a chunk of those advertisements to Graphic so that Graphic can earn quite some money from it,” he said.
President Mahama also addressed the need to refurbish the company’s printing equipment, a critical asset for its diversified portfolio.
Stating his personal involvement in commissioning the Graphic KBA press in 2012, he said the government would discuss with management how to support the necessary upgrades “to put it in a state where they can serve you for the next 15 to 20 years or more.”
Unique mandate
While asserting that Graphic has historically been “the most profitable of all the media houses” and is better positioned than its sister public media organisations, he concluded that a comprehensive strategy was needed.
“We will sit, and then we’ll go to Cabinet, and we’ll take some decisions on how to recapitalise the public media so that you’re able to get back on your feet and continue your work,” President Mahama assured.
The visit underscores the government’s renewed focus on fortifying public interest journalism as a pillar of national development.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh
