Seasoned sports journalist Nathaniel Attoh has reflected on his formative years, tracing his journalism career to its inception at The African University of Communications.

Recounting his journey in an interview on Joy Learning's “The Career Trail” programme, he said following his graduation, he got the opportunity to have his first journalism training at the Graphic Communications Group as an intern.

He said that his passion for sports led him to eagerly embrace his Sports Department posting at Graphic.

“Interestingly, I was assigned to the Sports Department and I already had an interest in sports and so because of that I lunched into it and I started going along,” he stated.

According to him, as the youngest member in the department, he benefited from mentorship by industry stalwarts, including former President of the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG), Maurice Quansah, Sub-Editor of the Daily Graphic and Women's football pioneer, Rosalind Koramah Amo and many others, fostering his passion to specialise in boxing also.

Nathaniel Attoh recalled his training being marked by significant challenges, as journalists were tasked with generating original feature stories, which involved rigorous revisions and corrections.

Undeterred by constant corrections, Mr Attoh said he persevered, learned from his mistakes, and eventually developed proficiency in generating high-quality stories with minimal errors.

"At the time what made you relevant was the kinds of stories you wrote and the weight behind your story, the strength of the headline and the depth in the story and we were not running the normal room structure, the traditional way of story. You come in there and you have to generate your own story and that’s what built me,”

“It wasn’t easy. I remember very well that my first major story I got was through my own initiative and Maurice Quansah had to clean it and rewrite it for me and then Felix Abayateye closed from work and saw me behind the computer and read and said this is Maurice Quansah’s language, not your language. All of that did not intimidate me, but rather encouraged me and I said if this is it then I have to develop my own writing style so that you can notice my writing,” he explained.

He emphasised that formidable mentorship and fostering meaningful connections with his interviewees significantly impacted his career trajectory, urging emerging journalists to prioritise robust relationship-building.

“Human relation skills are very important,” he advised.