By:Isaac Amoah

As part of empowering members for effective and responsible security reporting, the Private Newspapers and Online News Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG), in collaboration with the National Security Secretariat, has organised a two-day capacity-building workshop on responsible security reporting in support of Ghana’s National Security priorities.

The workshop was on the theme “Media as a Strategic Partner in Preventive Security and Early Warning in Ghana.”

The capacity-building workshop held at Platinum Bay Hotel at Abokobi-Accra brought together news publishers, senior editors and media owners to strengthen their capacity to report accurately and responsibly on Ghana’s evolving security landscape, including violent extremism, communal conflicts, cybercrime and strategic security communication.

Participants

The participants were taken through topics such as Ghana’s national security architecture, emerging and asymmetric security threats, communal conflicts, and conflict sensitivity.

Other topics include the Security and Intelligence Agencies Act, 2026 (Act 1168), an overview – what is new, media, national security, strategic communication, ethics, national interest, press freedom, etc.

In his opening address, the President of PRINPAG, Mr David Tamaloe, said PRINPAG has stood as a pillar since 1991, yes, even before the 1992 Constitution was inspected and birthed the Fourth Republic.

According to him, the association has been the peer review platform, the conscience, and the watchdog of the private press. “We have provided technical and financial support to our practitioners with meagre resources, often left to fend for ourselves.

Mr.David Tamakloe speaking at the opening session

We have maintained standards and ethics when it was easier to abandon them. For over three decades, we have been a strategic partner to democracy, and we remain one today,” he lamented. On what he termed the war of confusion,

Mr Tamakloe pointed out that “I must speak plainly about the war of confusion that surrounds us.” The media has been left alone, abandoned, really, to fight for its place in the long history of human development and democracy.

In our desperation to cower, control, or simply sideline the media, we have created a monster and set it loose upon ourselves.

That monster is the so-called “new media.” We are being fed a dangerous lie that this chaotic digital space will take over, that the traditional press is a dying relic. Let us not be deluded! There is no alternative to the traditional media.

The media is only one; it has always been one, and it will always remain one,” he pointed. Stressing that “the madness we witness on social media is NOT journalism. Journalism is a noble profession that has shaped humanity for centuries. It has exposed tyranny, championed the oppressed, and chronicled the triumphs of the human spirit.

We must not throw this profession under the bus simply because we have grown intolerant of divergent views or, worse, because we are unwilling to finance its growth.”

PRINPAG President said as the great American philosopher George Santayana warned, “Those who can not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” If we abandon journalism, we abandon memory itself.

On the challenge of regulation and resourcing, Mr David Tamakloe observed that “we are often told that democracy is expensive. Yet, paradoxically, we have cut media budgets and failed to provide the regulations that protect the sanctity of our industry.

With the evolution of time, we can legislate to protect the media not to stifle freedom of speech but to insulate truth from the cacophony of falsehood. As Justice Louis Brandeis famously declared, “Sunlight is said to be the best disinfectant.

“Let us shine that sunlight through a well-resourced, well-regulated, and fiercely independent press.”He said that’s why media associations like PRINPAG must be supported.

According to him, private media can not sharpen their swords on stones that do not exist. “The private media must be oiled, empowered, and equipped to thrive. But resources alone are not enough.

As journalists and media practitioners, we must use our integrity to defend the journalism profession.

We must uphold standards, value our culture and our shared humanity, and always prioritise our nation’s interest above narrow agendas. Remember the old African proverb: “A clear conscience is a soft pillow. “Let our integrity be our pillow as we sleep at night.Mr Tamakloe, therefore, seized the opportunity to urge stakeholders to remember the timeless wisdom:

“The pen is mightier than the sword. “But a pen without ink is useless. “Let us provide the ink through funding, through regulation, and through partnership.

Turning his attention to the PRINPAG members, who could not be part of the workshop, he encouraged them to continue upholding the principles of accuracy, responsibility, professionalism, and conflict-sensitive journalism in their coverage of security-related matters in the country.

To the selected members of PRINPAG, Mr David Tamakloe admonished them to make the most of the opportunity and also be good ambassadors of the knowledge and skills acquired to train others.

He also commended the National Security Secretariat on behalf of the association for invaluable partnership.