Samsung Ghana to partner GJA whip up interest in new media
Samsung Ghana will from next year support the Best Journalist in Innovation and Technological Reporting under the annual awards ceremony of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA).
The move is to help promote and deepen the interest of journalists’ reportage on issues related to Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the country.
This announcement was made by Mr. Bangryong Kim (Brovo), the Managing Director of Samsung Ghana when the Management of the company called on the National Executive of the GJA to formally introduce itself to the association and brief executives on the upcoming Samsung Week Celebrations in Accra.
The team, which was led by Mr. Kim, comprised of Ms. Monica Adukpo, the Head of Marketing, Mr. Tetteh Akornor, Product Manager and Mr. Mike Bosompem, Retail Manager of Samsung Ghana.
The Managing Director stated that the decision by Samsung Ghana to sponsor this category under the awards scheme is due to the huge influence journalists have in educating the society on the socio-economic benefits of ICT to national development.
He stressed that “Samsung believe in developing innovative technologies and efficient processes that will help to create new markets, enrich people’s lives, and continue to make Samsung a digital leader” and as such journalists have a key role to play in facilitating the achievement of this vision”.
On Samsung operations in Africa, Mr. Kim noted that the company has for the past fifty-three years operated on the continent and currently has presence in South Africa, Nigeria, Senegal, Kenya, Cameroun, Ivory Coast and Congo.
He said the company decided to expand its business operations to Ghana two years ago by establishing a local office due to the huge favourable economic environment being enjoyed in the country.
Touching on the Samsung Week Celebration, Mr. Kim said the annual week celebration is to help the company to communicate indirectly to its consumers especially the youth through entertainment, training and product displays to enhance their lives.
“The event which will begin from 7th to 9th September, 2011 will feature activities such as the Samsung Cultural Icon Competition, the Samsung Ghana Facebook Competition, the Free Service Campaign and an exhibition of all Samsung’s technological innovations ranging from mobile phones to consumer electronics, digital cameras and television sets”, he added.
Mr. Ransford Tetteh, the President of the GJA, welcomed the idea by Samsung Ghana to help develop and sharpen the reporting skills of journalists in the area of ICT in the country.
Mr. Tetteh acknowledged that the place of journalism in helping develop society cannot be overemphasised “since a vibrant media enables everybody to ply his or trade in a free environment”.
He said today traditional media is under threat because of the emergence of social media and therefore to be able to stand the competition, the media needs to have modern technological gadgets to aid them in their endeavors.
This he added, will help to leverage the social platform in order to enrich content of the media.
“We believe that we have to collaborate with you because today you have moved from household appliances to a lot of businesses that we need such as phones, tabs and digital cameras to leverage the new media,” he stressed.
He said such collaboration will help to facilitate the course of specialisation amongst journalists in the country and “we look forward to such collaboration with the hope that it will be to our benefit”.
Mr. Tetteh called on Samsung to assist the GJA Secretariat which serves as a Centre of Collation of Results with Electronic Score Boards and mobile phones in order to enable them in the relaying of results to media people across the country and beyond in the 2012 elections.
Mr. Bright Blewu, the General Secretary of the GJA, urged Samsung Ghana to create a system whereby the association can serve as a guarantor to enable its members acquire Samsung products such as home appliances, mobile phones and cameras among others at reduced cost.
As part of its contribution to the GJA, Samsung Ghana presented a 40 inch LED TV set worth four thousand five hundred cedis (4, 500) to the Secretariat.
By Edmund Smith-Asante