The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) marks its 70 years of formation Thursday with lined up activities to commemorate the event, APA has learnt.
As part of the celebration, there would be the cutting of an anniversary cake at a ceremony to be held in Accra later in the day and reflections on the history of the association and its relevance to the development of the country by some prominent personalities.
Other key partners of GJA such as UNESCO Ghana and the US Embassy in Accra will also deliver goodwill messages to the association.
The GJA was formed on 15th August, 1949 with the view to promoting high journalistic standards, media freedoms and welfare of media practitioners as well as defending journalists against abuse by state and non-state actors.
Having fought for freedom of speech under military regimes and the subsequent repeal of the Criminal Libel Law from the constitution coupled with the passage of the Right to Information Law, Ghanaian journalists are now confronted with abuse by the state and private individuals as recounted by former chairman of the Media Foundation for West Africa, Professor Kwame Karikari in his assessment of the media landscape in Ghana today.
The murder of Ahmed Hussein Suale, an investigative journalist in 2018 put fear in journalists in Ghana while numerous attacks by security agencies leaving much to be desired.
DAP/as/APA