Cape Coast, – Professor George Kwaku Toku Oduro, former Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), has urged managers of state-owned media to invest in technology to enhance work output.
He said the state media played a strategic role in national development, providing services for all segments of the multicultural society with the cardinal roles being timely information, education and entertainment.
Investments in technology, he said, was the way to deliver development-oriented services that the state media were fundamentally established to promote to facilitate socio-economic advancement.
Prof Oduro gave the advice at a lecture to climax the 25th anniversary of Ghana Broadcasting Cooperation (GBC) Radio Central in Cape Coast on Tuesday.
Activities that marked the one-month anniversary celebrations, included, reminiscences from founding fathers, early community activism, sounds and voices of yesteryears and interaction with ardent listeners, sponsors, partners, agencies and academia.
It was on the theme: “25 years of local broadcasting: The role of GBC Radio Central in enhancing the development of Central Region.”
The event was graced by scores of enthusiastic supporters, sponsors, traditional and religious leaders and media friends.
Key stakeholders, including Mrs Justina Marigold Assan, Central Regional Minister, Osabarima Kwesi Atta II, Omanhen of Oguaa Traditional Area, Mr Yaw Opoku Agyepong, Acting Director of GBC Radio and Mr Alex Ashie, Director of GBC Radio Central, among others, were awarded.
Prof Oduro called on the management of the heritage station to religiously ensure excellence in broadcasting services and asked media stakeholders to support efforts at assisting the state media to rise above excellence and promote the Ghanaian value systems.
“You should not behave like the private media houses most of which are established by politicians to promote their partisan agenda. Remember, you are paid by the taxpayer to serve their best interests to promote development in the region,” he added.
While applauding Radio Central for the successes chalked over the years, he charged management not to be complacent but evolve an institutional culture that promoted collective planning towards a better future.
He said the increasingly complex challenges of funding of public broadcasting houses had necessitated the urgent need for innovative approaches to internally generate funds to manage the media houses.
However, the mushrooming of competitive private radio stations, increasing political party polarization, which was fast permeating every sector of the Ghanaian society, had brought the compelling need for management to sustain its public service identify and unify its staff for better performance.
“To sustain your relevance, there is the need to provide quality broadcasting services that will meet the development needs of the people,” Prof Oduro noted.
“I challenge management to concentrate more on community engagement to identify priority development needs of such communities and use it as a medium to draw government’s attention to such development needs,” he added.
In his welcoming address, Mr Ashie thanked all stakeholders for the great support received and said the radio station was instituted by dedicated personalities, wanting to establish an authority for the dissemination of authentic news and classified information to the indigenes of Cape Coast and beyond.
The station had shifted from more traditional broadcasting to modern broadcasting, focusing not only on news content but context and application.
That has introduced the station into podcasting, streaming, live audiovisual internet broadcasting, webcasting and distance education.
Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II, Omanhen of Oguaa Traditional Area, who chaired the event, praised the station for its commitment to ensuring quality broadcasting services and encouraged them to sustain the momentum to help develop the Region.
He praised Radio Central for its professionalism and decency on the airwaves and urged them to continue with their good works.
Source: Ghana News Agency
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