By Linda Naa Deide Aryeetey
Accra, Feb 19, GNA – Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang has called for a strategic partnership between women in government and the media to strengthen democratic accountability.
She said media visibility played a decisive role in shaping how society understood leadership, competence, and power.
The Vice President made the call at the first National Forum on Women in Government and Media in Accra.
Speaking on the theme, “Leadership, Visibility and Public Trust,” she cautioned that visibility without credibility risked undermining public trust.
“Those who recount narratives do not simply report; they organise attention, they determine what is urgent, what is trivial and what is ignored. That is a significant form of power,” she said.
She urged journalists to ground their reporting in evidence and context rather than sensationalism.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said women in the media occupied a “strategic position” in public discourse, influencing whether women’s leadership was normalised or reduced to spectacle.
“When coverage focuses on appearance at the expense of competence and outcomes, the space for women in public life becomes very small,” she said.
The Vice President noted that although leadership was demanding for all, women in public life operated under heightened scrutiny, making credibility and consistency essential.
“Visibility can expand possibilities; it can normalize women’s authority, but it must be accompanied by credibility and sustained by public trust,” she said.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said trust was built when leaders communicated clearly; institutions engaged openly, and the media reported with balance and context.
She encouraged women journalists to interrogate every story by asking whether it clarified, informed or inflamed public debate.
The Vice President said countries that integrated women meaningfully into decision-making built stronger institutions and more stable governance outcomes.
“Inclusive leadership is not symbolic. It is a developmental issue,” she emphasised.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said the forum marked the beginning of sustained dialogue, mentorship and collaboration between women in government and the media to promote ethical leadership, credible journalism and informed citizenship.
Nana Oye Bampoe-Addo, Deputy Chief of Staff, said the forum would become an annual platform to foster purposeful engagement between governance and the media.
“Governance does not exist in isolation. Governance speaks through the media, and the media shapes how governance is understood by the people we serve,” she said.
Madam Bampoe-Addo said women were not merely participants in national development but architects of national development.
She highlighted the role of the media in advancing the Government’s RESET agenda to rebuild confidence in public institutions.
Madam Bampoe-Addo said President John Mahama had demonstrated commitment to women’s inclusion in leadership, noting that women currently accounted for about 23.21 per cent of political appointments, with progress towards a 30 per cent affirmative action target.
Mr. Julius Debrah, Chief of Staff, recalled the nomination of Professor Opoku-Agyemang as Vice President as a landmark moment, describing it as the breaking of a glass ceiling.
He urged women in leadership and the media to mentor younger women, collaborate across sectors and resist intimidation and trivialisation.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey