The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, has urged the media to partner Parliament to promote, expand and sustain democratic practice in the country.

In performing that task, he said the media needed to report on Parliament's activities with seriousness and not with levity "because a whole nation's survival and development depend on the results you produce."

In a speech read oh his behalf by the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Ebo Barton - Odro, at a capacity building workshop for  members of the Parliamentary Press Corps in Dodowa over the weekend, Mr Adjaho recommended constant capacity building  for journalists which  included workshops.

The workshop was on the theme, "The Parliamentary reporter as an effective link between Parliament and the public."

Adjaho's advice

In order to act effectively as the fourth estate of the realm and also report on Parliament effectively, Mr Adjaho recommended constant capacity building  for journalists.

"But it should go beyond mere participation in workshops and seminars. You should apply yourself to scholarship. Do research, go for in-service trainings, take time out to retrain and possibly specialise in various subject areas of Parliamentary work. Let me assure you that when you do all these assiduously and with a positive attitude, you will excel and become household names and icons worth emulating when journalistic practice is  concerned," he said.

He said Parliamentary Press Corps members must be allowed to stay on the beat for a long while, thinking of intellectual and professional capacities in order to ensure sterling work.

Mr Adjaho advised members of the Parliamentary Press Corps to  convince the management of their media houses to consider assigning reporters to Parliament for longer periods.

"The turnover of members of the Parliamentary Press Corps is enough to discourage any long term investment in your development. If after resources are committed into training you, you leave Parliament to pursue other interests almost immediately after your training, you cannot establish an enduring Parliamentary reporting culture that others can use as a guide or reference," he said.

Kugblenu's admonition

The Director of Public Affairs of Parliament, Mr Jones Kugblenu, said journalists were ascribed a high responsibility and, therefore,  they always needed to ascertain whether what they did was in the national interest.

He said the leadership of Parliament was in discussion with the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation to establish a governance channel to broadcast live all Parliamentary proceedings.

According to him, in the Job 600 Complex which is currently under rehabilitation,  a press room had been created where journalists would operate and file their stories.