All is Set for GJA’s 75th Birthday on Thursday

THE Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) will be 75 years on Thursday, August 15, 2024, and the day will be marked with a conference around Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Anniversary Cake at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel.

The cutting of the 75th Anniversary Cake will be preceded by commemorative lectures on the topic: “AI and the future of journalism”, at 4pm, as the GJA looks into the future of journalism in Ghana, while celebrating the past.

The programme will be the highlight of activities to commemorate the 75th Anniversary, which is on the theme: “75 years of excellence in journalism: Honouring the past, embracing the present and shaping the future”.

The commemorative lectures will be delivered by Charles Nii Ayiku Ayiku, IT Expert & General Manager, External Communications, Electricity Company of Ghana, and Ethel Cofie, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Edel Technology Consulting, with Baaba Cofie, Acting Dean of the School of Communication Studies, Wisconsin International University College, Ghana, as the chairperson.

The Minister of Information, Fatimatu Abubakar and the President of the Federation of Africa Journalists (FAJ), Omar Faruk Osman, will be the Special Guest and Guest Speaker, respectively.

Other dignitaries attending the programme are Ministers of State, Members of Parliament, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, past GJA national executive members, heads of media institutions and media partners.

Also, media practitioners, lecturers, students and members of the general public will attend the programme, which will feature the Ghana Police Band and Alabaster Box in what promises to be an evening of good reflection and refreshment.

The GJA was born on August 15, 1949 at the peak of the nationalist struggle for independence from colonial rule.

The leaders of the nationalist struggle had used the media at the time as anti-colonial weapon, especially to espouse their ideas and vision for independence.

After 75 years of its birth and helping to secure Ghana’s independence, the GJA and the media are still battling for freedom – freedom of the media, freedom of expression, freedom from obnoxious laws, freedom from persecution and freedom from physical attacks – even in a democratic dispensation.