Investigative journalist, Manasseh Azure Awuni, has called on the judiciary to play a stronger role in addressing attacks and abuses against journalists.

In an exclusive interview with JoyNews, he cited the prolonged court case involving journalist Latif Iddrisu, describing the delay as a situation that could discourage other journalists from seeking legal redress when they are abused.

According to him, attacks on journalists must be treated as serious matters, with victims receiving fair compensation where necessary.

“There was an attack on a Modern Ghana journalist. I think the compensation was about forty thousand or so, which for me doesn’t make sense.

"It won’t encourage anybody to hire a lawyer, go to court for years, win a case of physical attack that these journalists suffered at the National Security, and at the end, they get practically nothing.”

Mr Azure said that credible information can only thrive in an environment where journalists are free to report on issues of public interest without fear.

He warned that when journalists are intimidated or attacked, it creates room for misinformation to spread.

“I train and speak to young journalists, and some are not so young. They wish they could do investigative reporting; they wish they could do in-depth journalism, but their worry is the dangers.

"The more they see journalists harassed or abused, they are likely to drift away from this type of reporting.”

He said attacks on journalists undermine quality journalism and threaten the credibility of information available to the public.