EPA to build capacity of journalists in environmental reporting
Dr Doris Dartey, a Journalist and Environmental Activist on Thursday observed that the mass media holds the key to influence attitudinal and behavioural change of Ghanaians particularly on the environment through conscious sensitisation and education.
She said journalists could do this effectively if they received training on environmental reporting and therefore called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to avail itself as important news source and view environmental communication and media intervention as critical factors in its organisational success.
Dr Dartey made the call at the opening of a two-day capacity building workshop organised by the EPA for stakeholders to develop a pilot training manual on environmental reporting for communicators and journalists at Elmina in the Central Region.
A total of 25 participants including representatives from the Forestry Commission, Ghana Journalists Association, as well as education institutions drawn from the Western, Northern and Greater Accra Regions are attending the workshop.
Dr Dartey pointed out that limited coverage on the environment was detrimental to national development hence the need to equip and encourage the media to regularly pursue and bring to the fore issues on the ecology.
“It is important to deepen the knowledge, understanding and competence of journalists in the various aspects of the environment such as climate change, mining, noise pollution and environmental sanitation,” she said.
Mrs Angelina Mensah, Public Relations Officer of EPA noted that the purpose of the manual was to improve the knowledge and skills of journalists on environmental issues to enable them to have in-depth knowledge to make reporting easier and effective.
She said the manual would be developed in such a way that the trainer could choose topics and exercises according to the target group.
It would also include responsible environmental reporting, sound management of chemical and electronic waste, oil and gas, mining as well as gender and climate change issues.
Source: GNA