They should not rush to publish information that are inaccurate and could potentially escalate an already volatile situation in their haste to break a story.

Mr. Albert Yelyang, National Network Coordinator of West Africa Network for Peace building (WANEP), who gave the advice, said a single blunder by a journalist could cause an irreparable damage to society.

He was speaking at a day's training workshop on conflict sensitivity in reporting and peace building in Kumasi held for a group of journalists selected from across the country.

It was put together by the United Nations Development Programmes (UNDP), in collaboration with the Ghana Centre Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana).

Mr. Yelyang implored journalists to refrain from instigating one group against the other with sensational headlines and be mindful of the cultural, religious and traditional sensitivity of people involved in conflicts.

He reminded the participants that bad stories often damaged the reputation of both the journalists and their media organizations and urged them to strive for excellence.

He entreated them to always authenticate their sources of information and also consider whether their stories could trigger conflicts or disturb public peace.

"It is important to be security conscious as journalists and try to avoid stories that would threaten your security", he advised the participants.

Ms. Melody Azinim, Peace and Governance Analyst at UNDP-Ghana, said the training formed part of a governance assessment project under a multi-stakeholder platform, involving various civil society organizations.

She said the platform was particularly focusing on issues bothering on electoral violence which had always been a security threat over the years.

Ms Azim said with election 2020 approaching, it was important to sensitize the populace on the need to be cautious of the happenings in the country.

She said the media had a significant role to play in this direction and urged them to be conflict sensitive in their reportage to sustain the peace in the country.

"The UN believes in working together as different sectors of the society to come up with workable interventions that are able to deal with issues facing society", she stated.