The Office of the KNUST URO has credited all student journalists and bloggers for their good work.
The University Relations Officer & Deputy Registrar for KNUST, Dr. Daniel Norris Bekoe held an interactive meeting with student journalists and bloggers on the KNUST campus on Friday, February 19, 2021.
The meeting was held with the agenda to credit them for their good work so far and to discuss their way forward.
The meeting was geared towards helping upcoming journalists and bloggers on campus to become better at what they do and to get them on track with professionalism.
Present to grace the occasion was Dr. Daniel Nkrumah, a past Public Relations Manager at Pentecost University and now a Media Communications Lecturer in KNUST- Kumasi, in collaboration with the KNUST SRC P.R.O, Mr. Charles Lwanga Tengan.
The program was chaired by Nana Kwadwo Jantuah; a broadcast journalist, manager of Focus FM KNUST, and a member of the KNUST U.R.O.
The meeting which commenced at 10 AM was opened by Nana Jantuah who introduced the dignitaries to address the audience.
Dr. Daniel Nkrumah started by sharing his passion for journalism and how he has had broader knowledge from learning on the job.
From his experience, he made mention of the fact that Journalists are Gate Keepers of information (the truth).
“Journalists are gatekeepers and information that shouldn’t get in must be filtered out, whereas ones that should, must be filtered in.”
He gave a list of the criteria of a Gate Keeper;
- The information must be Credible
- The information must be Accurate
- The information must be fair
- The information must be balanced
And a journalist must establish and take all these key points into consideration before deciding to broadcast information. He gave a further explanation of the key points.
“For Credibility, is the story believable? Can it be verified?. For Accuracy, are all the facts reflecting reality? Have you over-sensationalized?. Balance; Did you speak to relevant stakeholders? Your story should not be one-sided. Fairness; How does your story advance your institution?” he listed.
He went on to educate journalists and bloggers to have principles of ownership, and to serve the interest of their target audience, but with an objective.
The URO, Dr. Daniel Norris Bekoe came in with a bit of advice to student journalists that even as individual bloggers and journalists broadcast their news items, they should not do so to tarnish the name of the school. He also advised that bloggers ensure that campus stories, especially ones that address students’ woes against management are in alignment with the Students’ Code of Conduct.
He explained this by saying that “the school doesn’t find interest in harming its students and the management does its best in protecting the image of all students.”
He further appealed to all students to protect the Outfit of the University, because this serves their own interests.
In his speech, he disclosed that about 233 institutions around the world are seeking to collaborate with KNUST (some for affiliation, others for exchange programs) because of the achievements and the dignity that the institution upholds.
However, tarnishing the name of the school in blogs and other websites will not be beneficial for both the management and students.
In his closing remarks, he expressed his gratitude to all student journalists for their good work so far towards the institution. He also encouraged them to do better, be better, and project and promote the image of the school, because “KNUST is the Best School!”
He ended by saying KNUST is 70 years this year and they plan on celebrating it in a grand style so students should anticipate.
