President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Affail Monney, today presented prize packages to the 2018 Journalist of the Year and the 2018 Komla Dumor Most Promising Journalist of the Year.
Ms Doreen Hammond, the 2018 Journalist of the Year and Editor of Junior Graphic, received a cheque for Ghc20,000, a MacBook Pro and a weekend stay at Maaha Beach Resort at Atuabo in the Western Region.
For her prize, Joy News reporter Inna Thalia Quansah, who won the Komla Dumor Most Promising Journalist of the Year, received a MacBook Pro and a weekend stay at Maaha Beach Resort.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) donated the cash prize for the Journalist of the Year, while former President John Dramani Mahama donated the MacBook Pro to the two award winners, with Maaha Beach Resort offering the weekend treat for them.
Mr Monney thanked the NPP and former president Mahama for extending a helping hand to the media but he was quick to warn politicians to keep their hands off journalists, as this year’s electioneering heats up.
“Please, do not be led into temptation of touching a single journalist…. Politics need not be ugly or thuggery,” he said.
The GJA President condemned a recent attack on Bernard Ato Arthur, a camera man of UTV, by some supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) while covering the arrest of the NDC Director of Communications, Sammy Gyamfi.
He urged journalists to always pursue professional excellence, adding that winning awards enhances the image of journalists.
On behalf of the recipients, Ms Hammond thanked the GJA and the donors of the prize packages for the honour done them.
