Bide your time - Deputy Graphic News Editor advises young journalists
A Deputy News Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mr Kwame Asare Boadu, has advised young and budding journalists to bide their time and learn the rudiments of the profession to help them discharge their role more efficiently.
He said in an era of the proliferation of the media and journalists, it was easier for everyone to carry himself as an established journalist at the expense of working with the ethics of the profession.
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“My observation is that young reporters are impatient to learn. They want to be seen as well-baked journalists suddenly and often do not bide their time to learn. Unfortunately, this tells in their work and they are often badly exposed. To be the best, you need to go through the mill,” Mr Asare advised.
He shared his thoughts as he marked his 30th anniversary as a journalist and staff member of the Graphic Communications Group Ltd.
Three decades
On September 1, 1991, Mr Asare Boadu was appointed as a Staff Reporter with the Daily Graphic after completing his National Service as a history teacher at the Lawra Secondary School.
Having been employed, he was posted to Sunyani as the Brong Ahafo regional correspondent, then subsequently transferred to Kumasi
From the Ashanti Region, Mr Boadu was again transferred to Accra and assigned as the Presidential Reporter and later recalled to the Newsroom where he currently serves as a Deputy News Editor.
He said he was proud about the path he had carved for himself in journalism and also happy to share his working experience.
“I feel proud of having come thus far in the job and practised my trade with diligence,” he said.
Apprenticeship
Mr Boadu urged young journalists not to regard efforts by experienced journalists to guide them when they erred as envy or dislike as that was rather meant to help them to be the best.
“Unfortunately, young journalists of today do not always take kindly to efforts to guide them which is also a form of apprenticeship.
“ They are always in a rush and would not even crosscheck information before filing their stories because most of them are more interested in having a scoop rather than getting it right and that is unacceptable in the job,” he said.
He said unlike in the past where young journalists used their early times as a learning curve, many were in a rush to rub shoulders with the experienced ones and took offence at attempts to correct them.
Changing times
Mr Boadu further advised young journalists to take advantage of the opportunities and enhanced newsgathering tools to be efficient.
“In our early days, it was not easy to get stories from the regions down to the main newsroom. One had to write the story and send it by a commercial or the circulation vehicle to Accra.
“Then we got lucky and could call the office to dictate the story for someone to write and present. We then advanced to sending the stories via fax until the current situation where technology has made it so easy and simple.
“Even in those times, timeliness was not lost on us and we always ensured that we filed our stories on time.
“Today, technology has made it possible to send stories in real time and even file breaking news from anywhere and everywhere. That should inspire the young ones because now there are no barriers,” Mr Boadu said.
