The Awards ceremony on the theme “Safe Mining and Environmental Protection: The Role of the Media,” would be held at the Banquet Hall of the State House in Accra.  Nana Akua Adubea Obeng, the Media Relation Manager of BOST, said the donation was the third time the company had donated to the GJA to recognize journalists for their contributions to national development.

In a related development, WACAM, a Community Based Mining Advocacy Group, presented an amount of GH¢15,000.00 for the category of journalists in environmental reporting.  Mrs Hannah Owusu Koranteng, Associate Executive Director, WACAM, said the media had been at the forefront in the fight against illegal mining; hence it was prudent to support journalists for their commitment and efforts to help curb the menace.

Mr Affail Monney, the President of GJA, thanked the two bodies and said their support was well appreciated.  He said the awards sought to acknowledge and motivate journalists to climb a higher pedestal in their career.

He said although there were many people who looked at the flaws of the media “and paint all of us with the same accusing brush, on the other side there are good journalists who are excelling and impacting positively in all dimensions of national life”.

Mr Monney said that the Ministry of Information would finance the cost of all the plaques to be presented to the winning journalist, as well as other corporate institutions supporting the awards.  He emphasized that this year’s awards would be different, since it had been an eventful year in which the media had championed the fight against illegal mining.