By Albert Futukpor
Tamale, Nov 04, GNA – Members of the Northern Regional Media Advisory Committee have visited some media houses in the region to acquaint themselves with the operations of the stations and to encourage them to exhibit professionalism in their operations.
The visit was also to share the mandate of the Committee with the media houses and how they could work together to sanitise the airwaves.
The media houses visited were Radio Justice, Asaase Radio, Fiila FM, Zaa Multimedia, Sagani TV, Radio Tamale and and Dagbon FM.
The rest were Radio Savannah, Diamond FM, Gbangu FM, Northern Television (NTV), and North Star FM.
Sheikh Dr Tamimu Abubakar, Chairman, Northern Regional Media Advisory Committee, speaking during the visit, urged the media houses to be circumspect in their reportage to avoid excesses.
The Committee, which is a representative body of the National Media Commission (NMC), was inaugurated in September, this year by the NMC.
The Committee is mandated to deal with excesses in the media as well as settle complaints of media infractions recorded in the Northern, North East and Savannah Regions.
Sheikh Dr Abubakar also emphasised the need for media houses to be guided by the ethics of journalism in the discharge of their duties to ensure professionalism.
On this year’s elections and the role of the media in ensuring peaceful elections, he urged the media houses to ensure that their platforms were not used to incite political party supporters towards violence.
Dr Iliasu Adam, a Member of the Committee, emphasised the need for owners of media houses to institute regular training of their journalists to improve their performance.
Mr David Ziblim, General Manager, Sagani TV, said Sagani TV was established to project the northern part of the country to the rest of the world and to better shape the narrative about the north.
He commended Members of the Committee for the visit and assured them that Sagani TV would live up to its mandate, adding its platform would not be used in an unprofessional manner.
Alhaji Adam Cockra, Chief Executive Officer of Northern Television (NTV) said the organisation had instituted a code of conduct, which guided its staff and guests on the network to ensure discipline and professionalism.
He assured the Committee that anything that was not in the interest of the region and the country would not be aired.
Pastor Solomon Yidana Manager, Dagbon FM narrated some of the challenges the station encountered in relation to its broadcasts and backlash from some members of the public saying measures had been instituted to prevent recurrence.
Mr Eric Kwadjo Amoh, Coordinator of the Committee, encouraged managers of media houses to feel free to approach the Committee in times of need, adding that the Committee would soon send notices to media houses in the region on how to file cases with it.
GNA