Gye Nyame Media College situated in the Ga West Municipal District of the Greater Accra region of Ghana has held her second graduation ceremony. Eight students who had been taken through Broadcast Journalism, News Presenting and Reporting, Camera Handling, Media Law, Human Resource Management, Website and Page Designing among others, were presented with their earned certificates.

The Special Guest of Honour for the occasion, Mrs Victoria Lugey, President of the Catholic Association of Media Practitioners – Ghana (CAMP-G) and Editor-in-Chief at BusinessGhana, congratulated the graduands and called on them to be neutral in the discharge of their duties. She reminded them that they play the role of an intermediary bringing news from a group of people to another group of people and that the moment they start taking sides, they would be unfair to their listeners and to their profession.

Mrs Lugey encouraged the graduands to stand firm in the face of tribulations and difficulties that they would encounter on the job. She urged them not to go looking for envelopes and little monies that are handed out to reporters at events but rather, think of building their brands on integrity, truth, self-discipline and honesty.

The President of CAMP-G, told the story of how one of her lecturers and an icon of a media man, the late Professor Paul Archibold Vianney Ansah (PAVA), kept lambasting Dr Hilla Limann, the President of Ghana at the time, who happened to be his very good friend and room mate when they were studying together in France. She said that she asked him why he was doing that and the late Prof answered that he was a journalist and that his profession demanded that he spoke the truth and say it as it was, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will, or else, he would be doing himself, his profession and his nation, a disfavour. She advised the graduands to learn from the works and lives of such icons and say exactly what they had seen or heard.

She counselled them to gather knowledge about whatever subject they were treating by reading, researching, talking to the relevant people and breaking down the information to the level that the people they are sending the information to, would understand and appreciate, without taking sides or colouring the information to suit anybody.

Mrs Lugey said that for those who were likely to be presenting in the local languages, it was important to note that not every English word had its equivalence in the local language. She asked that in portraying an idea that had been presented in English, it was necessary to get as close to the word as possible and not add all kinds of words and innuendos thereby exaggerating the original idea, or, even saying something totally different from the original idea, or else, they would be doing a disservice to themselves and to their audience.

She described as very disheartening the extent to which a seemingly religious people would go to disparage their fellow brothers and sisters, peddle falsehoods and the sheer wickedness and thoughtlessness that citizens visit on each other.

Speaking on the theme: “COVID-19 Pandemic, Credible Presidential and Parliamentary Elections and the Media Factor”, Mrs Lugey called on all to be truthful and honest to one another and asked journalists to abide by the ethics of the profession and give credible reports based on facts in the up-coming elections. She urged them not to rush to report anything because they want to be the first to put it out noting that such behaviour would only create unnecessary confusion and chaos. She said that we are all brothers and sisters and called on all to work towards peace and unity.

As regards the COVID-19 pandemic, she called on all to take all the precautionary measures very seriously as the scientists researched further to fully understand the disease-causing virus. She reminded the graduands to wear their masks at all times especially when interviewing people. She noted that it would be in their own interest and for their own health, to request the interviewees to have their masks on as the microphones and phones being used to record sound bites, could catch droplets from the mouths of those speaking. She reminded them that some people could be a-symptomatic and show no signs of the disease.

The President of CAMP-G congratulated Mr Charles Nyoamedi Mensah, who is also a member of CAMP-G, for his bold initiative in starting the college to shape the lives of young men and women and train people for the media industry. She asked him to take a cue from her mate, Patrick Awuah of Ashesi University who also began in a very modest way and whose university has now become one of Ghana's success stories in education.

The ceremony was chaired by Mr Stephen Dicking Awuah, a businessman.