The Accra leg of the Betway Sports Sports Writers Conference concluded with a call to prioritize positive reportage in the sports journalism industry.
The event, organized by Ghana’s leading sports betting company, Betway, in conjunction with the Sports Writers Association of Ghana, brought together over 80 sports journalists drawn from print, radio, online and TV, to share ideas.
The Accra session held at the Alisa Hotel came two days after a similar exercise in Kumasi.
Sessions were delivered by Graphic Sports Editor, Maurice Quansah; Head of Sports for Media General, Michael Oti Adjei; and General Secretary of the Ghana Football Association, Prosper Harrison Addo.
Delivering his session on “Influencing the Game”, Quansah stressed the need for journalists to remain professional at all times.
“If you want to be respected as a Journalist, you must behave professionally at all times,” he said.
Oti Adjei’s session concentrated on the changing sports media environment where he urged journalists to embrace the new media age of journalism and stressed the need to always do extensive research.
Harrison Addo offered journalists tips on how to avoid defamation suits and what options are available to them when they transgress.
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See of the country’s top sports journalists who were also in attendance shared experiences on their journey to help shape the sports media landscape in the country.
Gary Al-Smith and Nathaniel Attoh, both from Joy Sports; CAF Commentator Benjamin Willie Graham, CEO of Karela United and former TV3 presenter, Elloeny Amande; and Godfred Akoto Boafo, Head of Current Affairs at Citi TV/Citi FM, were all present to make contributions during the 5 hour program at the Alisa Hotel in Accra.
Betway’s Country Marketing Manager, Kwabena Oppong-Nkrumah said the exercise is the company’s way of supporting the growth of journalists in sports media.
“We appreciate what a lot of journalists go through and we know the industry can get lonely sometimes, so we thought it was necessary to bring experienced heads together to share experiences, interact and network on how to move the industry forward.
“We’re extremely pleased with the outcome. This is the first edition but we were oversubscribed so it tells you there’s massive interest and we hope to do more in the future,” he said.
Certificates were handed out to the over 80 participants at the event.
