By Joyce Kantam Kolamong
Vice-President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Rebecca Ekpe, has called on journalists to report on sensitive social and health issues with responsibility, context and a focus on solutions.
Speaking on the media’s role in grassroots awareness during the Merck Foundation Health Media Training held via Zoom, Ms Ekpe said coverage of gender-based violence (GBV) often reinforces stigma instead of promoting healing.
She urged journalists to move beyond labels when reporting on child marriage and teenage pregnancy, which she linked to poverty, culture and abuse, and to ask what led to these issues and how they can be addressed.
“People are listening, and change is possible,” she said. “When we speak, we need to speak responsibly.”
Ghana records about 100,000 teenage pregnancies each year, with higher rates in the northern parts of the country, yet reporting on the issue often stops at official statements.
Ms Ekpe also highlighted the persistence of female genital mutilation (FGM) despite a legal ban, as well as barriers to girls’ education such as poverty and early marriage.
At the same time, she noted that young boys are increasingly being left behind, making community-wide support for education essential.
According to her, chiefs, churches, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and faith-based groups should all feature in such stories, alongside success stories that inspire change.
Ms Ekpe stressed the importance of local languages and radio, which remains the most accessible medium in communities with limited internet access or unreliable electricity supply.
She said radio programmes and media campaigns have already helped increase the reporting of GBV cases and improve girls’ enrolment in school.
Journalists, she said, face cultural resistance, limited data and safety risks when covering these issues.
Her advice was straightforward: prioritise personal safety, then find secure ways to gather and share information.
She also challenged newsrooms to stop over-prioritising politics at the expense of health and social issues.
By using news aggregation in editorial meetings and establishing dedicated health desks, editors can give these issues the attention they deserve, she said.
The Merck Foundation training brought together medical experts and media professionals to strengthen reporting on infertility stigma, women’s empowerment, child marriage, FGM, GBV and diabetes prevention.
Ms Ekpe concluded by reminding participants that the media can drive change and save lives, but only if journalists speak responsibly and keep communities at the centre of their stories.
The training was attended by journalists from African countries as well as Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America.
The Merck Foundation Health Media Training highlights the important role journalists play in influencing communities to create a cultural shift, break the silence and become the voice of the voiceless.
Through their stories, articles, blogs, reports and television news, journalists help raise awareness about sensitive social and health issues, including infertility stigma, girls’ education, women’s empowerment, child marriage, FGM, GBV, and the early detection and prevention of diabetes.
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