By Godwill Arthur-Mensah
Accra, May 15, GNA – The Third African Media Convention (AMC) on Wednesday opened in Accra with interesting and thought-provoking plenary sessions to strengthen media freedom in Africa.
Some of the topics discussed by the participants during the six plenary sessions were: Media Information Digital Competencies: The pan-African Strategy, New Model for Media Financing: Exploring New Approaches to Media Economic Resilience and Promoting Media Freedom: Access to Information and Safety of Journalists in Africa through Country Assessment.
Other topics were: Strengthening Partnership: A Synergy with CSOs, National Human Rights Institutions, African Information Commissions and Journalists Associations in AU Member States, Strengthening Mechanism for Monitoring, Reporting and Advocacy on Journalists’ Safety in Africa and Mis/Disinformation & Democracy in Africa: The Threats and Dimensions of Disinformation Campaigns in Africa and Disinformation Actors and How They Operate, and Enhancing Professional Media on Disability Quality with Focus on Gender, Youth and Media Professionals with Disability in AU Member States.
About 2,000 participants drawn across the continent, including policymakers, Ministers of State, researchers, academics and media practitioners are attending the Convention.
The three-day conference will be opened officially by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Special Guest for the event, on Thursday, May 16 at the Accra International Conference Centre.
Mr Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, the President of the Ghana Journalists Association, and Co-Chair of the Local Organising Committee, said all the necessary logistics, transportation and accommodation for participants had been secured to ensure a successful event.
The Convention is on the theme: “The African Media We Want: Enhancing Freedom, Innovation, and Environmental Sustainability in a Dynamic Media Landscape”.
Mr Dumfour noted that the theme was apt as it resonated with the 2024 World Press Freedom Day global theme.
There would be a Gala Night and field trips to some of the historic sites in Ghana including the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and Osu Castle.
The African Media Convention is an annual conference providing a platform to reflect on the fundamental role of journalism on the continent, celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom and deliberate on measures to safeguard media freedoms.
It also focuses on promotion of access to information, the safety of journalists and media viability in the African Union Member States.
It’s being organised by UNESCO Addis Ababa Liaison Office to AU and UNECA, the African Union, hosted by the Ministry of Information, the Ghana Journalists Association, and various media partners.
The stakeholders would collaborate to develop action plan and advocate policies that foster a free, vibrant, and impactful press across the continent.
It would also deliberate on ways to leverage Artificial intelligence (AI) in promoting efficient media work on the continent.
Key objectives of the Convention are to evaluate the status of press freedom, access to information, safety of journalists and media viability in Africa, defend the media from attacks on their independence, promote public interest media and pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession.
It is a date to encourage and develop initiatives in favour of media viability in Africa, press freedom, access to information and to assess the state of press freedom in the digital era.
It acts as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom and a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics.
GNA