Isaac Ato Mensah (Page 18)

By Isaac Ato MENSAH Accra – 8 March, 2019 The title of this article was a question posed to me by one of my students in class during the last lecture for February. Let’s call her Sister A. ‘I may not want to be a journalist, so why force me to study Online Journalism and with it blogging as a core course in a communication school?, queried Sister A. ‘The blogging is my problem.’ Fair question. It brought to mind columnist Nana Prof Darkwa’s ICT Corner article published in the Ghanaian Times on 11 February, 2019. Darkwa argued that ICT will soon enable tertiary studentsRead More →

By Isaac Ato MENSAH/Engr. Kwame OFORI-ADDO Accra – 5 March, 2019 Wednesday 6th March, 2019 is the sixty-second Independence anniversary of our beloved country Ghana. Congratulations to H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, president of the Republic of Ghana and Commander-in-chief of the Ghana Armed Forces. And Happy Anniversary to all Ghanaians and people of Ghanaian descent, both home and wherever dispersed over the surface of earth and water. This year’s national parade takes place in Tamale, the first national parade to be held outside Accra. It is to mark the enskinment in January of Ya-Na Abukari Mahama II, the Overlord of the Dagomba kingdom. NoRead More →

By Isaac Ato MENSAH Akyem Dompim – 4 March, 2019 A researcher is required to be impartial in his investigation, even if (s)he is a participant observer in a qualitative study. But in Akyem Dompim, I broke down; my hands became weak, I could not write nor ask any further questions; I just sat there for about 10-minute intervals several times. A simple close-ended question brought up issues that got me thinking so many things. ‘Oye awereho,’ to wit, ‘it is sad’, was how a man and his wife ended their narratives. ‘I have a small cocoa farm and a taxi which has broken down,’Read More →

By Isaac Ato MENSAH Accra – 1 March, 2019 The Communication Students Association (COMSA) of Wisconsin International University College (WIUC) Ghana on Thursday celebrated one year of their newspaper production. The occasion was also used to launch COMSA. But the survival of the newspaper was the burning issue. ‘We have decided to do digital migration; anybody who wants to read the latest news can get it online,’ said the editor of a leading national paper. ‘But if you have [to choose between] the free content online and the hard copy, you will go for the free content online.’ He further explained that perhaps the mostRead More →

By Lilly Adjorkor ADJEI Accra- 27 February, 2019 Widespread discussions continue on the recent multiple financial scandals within our nation. These discussions often revolve on who to blame for these crises; the greed of some investors; the lack of knowledge of others; incompetence of regulators such as Bank of Ghana, auditors and the institutions themselves. The solutions were then easy to identify. But is this the first time Ghana is experiencing such turmoil within the financial sector? The answer is No! We have had the likes of CB Net Marketing Concepts, E Finance, DKM and now The Menzgold saga, as well as the collapse ofRead More →

By Isaac Ato MENSAH Accra- 25 February, 2019 This is the time when public intellectuals have to step up and speak up – down with public opinion; we are in crisis mode! Occasionally, along with chatter on social media platforms, there is a query over the range and domain of some article posted on a particular platform (pardon my mathematics). Questions arise whether such and such a topic is appropriate or could be discussed on a platform or not. Surely, we all have experienced that before. It is always good to set the ground rules for the platforms so that “brethren or sisteren” do notRead More →

By Isaac Ato MENSAH Accra – 22 February, 2019 The best photo journalism prizes are no doubt won by persons with great cameras and superlative technical and artistic skills. Our Online Journalism campaign is being done with a simple smart phone; no cropping, no editing of photographs and very minimal to no captions ……and hardly any artistic and technical abilities. We simply take raw pictures and let them speak to the reality on the ground. On Wednesday, as I walked on the Starlets ’91 Road, from the Ministries Traffic Light towards the Accra Sports Stadium, I saw madness. It was in my face as IRead More →

(For both genders to understand that mentoring for women is important, and to show men how to correctly mentor a woman). By Lilly Adjorkor ADJEI Tema – 20 February, 2019 Feedback from the previous article on this very topic really shows how sensitive yet important the subject of mentoring is. The process of men mentoring women has suffered setbacks which can be repaired, but how? The majority of societies have been organised along patriarchy. Sometimes this has been justified based on religious writ. ‘Certainly you will find more traditionally male-dominated organisations, professions [and] industries out there today. And in places like the military and tech,Read More →

By Isaac Ato MENSAH Accra – 18 February, 2019 “Hymns and Their Meanings” has been broadcast on the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) FM channel 95.7MHz for more than 30 years. It is one of the best post production (recorded) programmes on radio. On Sunday it featured the Association of Security Services Choirs. The host was The Very Reverend Lt. Col. David Benedict Quayson, Senior Minister, Methodist Church, Ghana Armed Forces. The first hymn was “And Can It Be” by Charles Wesley. ‘Did Christ really die for me?,’ Very Rev. Lt. Col. Quayson put those words into Charles Wesley’s mouth. He inferred, extrapolated, theorised that statementRead More →

By Lilly Adjorkor ADJEI/Isaac Ato Mensah Tema – 15 February, 2019 The recent news that the Ghana Library Authority will declare 2019 the Year of Reading must surely provoke writers and library workers to pen down their experiences. ‘We are receiving about 100,000 books from Book Aid International and this means that our libraries will have fresh content from across the world,’ said Hayford Siaw, the boss of the Ghana Library Authority. ‘The truth is that the more books a library has, the more people visit the library.’ Managing a basic school library in a resource poor country is not for the faint hearted. ‘OurRead More →