Ransford Tetteh appointed Ag MD of Graphic
The Board of Directors of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) has appointed the Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mr Ransford Tetteh, as the acting Managing Director of the company.
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Mr Tetteh, who joined the company in July 1983 as a reporter and became the editor of the company’s flagship newspaper in 2007, replaces Mr Ken Ashigbey, who resigned the position on October 31, this year, after six years in charge of the GCGL.
A statement issued by the Corporate Affairs Unit of the company in Accra on Thursday said the appointment was made in consultation with the management following the need to put in place temporary measures to ensure that the day-to-day administration of the GCGL did not suffer.
Accordingly, the board called on both management and staff of the GCGL to continue to support Mr Tetteh, since the former MD had formally handed over to him.
Innovation
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, Mr Tetteh said the company’s quest for aggressive digitisation would be his priority, as the current state of the newspaper industry required innovation.
“There are challenges, but generally throughout the world it is a tough time, particularly with newspapers, but we will build on the successes chalked up by my predecessor who had always made it a point that we innovate or die.
“We will keep innovating some of the initiatives in the woodwork. With the support of the management team and members of staff, we will try to bring them to fruition. The challenge is generally to make ourselves relevant in a digital world, but we will try our best to make our presence felt in the competitive media space,” he said.
Sense of fulfilment
Asked how he felt about the appointment, he said it came with a sense of fulfilment.
“I feel a sense of fulfilment, after all, everybody who works in any organisation aspires to move to the highest level albeit in an acting capacity, but I will still be performing the duties of that office. I feel that it is an honour and endorsement of my performance over the years. And of course I thank God for guiding me through all my endeavours.
“I joined Graphic as a reporter and have risen through the ranks to become the editor. That is the ultimate for any journalist, not just for any newspaper but the flagship of the nation, and finally would have to head that organisation, I feel fulfilled. But it comes with a lot of challenges too.
“Sometimes I feel nervous, but I believe that the hard work that has seen me becoming editor and the things that we have done to make the Daily Graphic a must-read newspaper on all platforms will still inspire us to sustain Graphic as a going concern,” he said.
Incentives
On incentives for workers, he said it was important for all to put their shoulders to the wheel to grow what he described as “the cake” to ensure that workers received their entitlements.
He cited the year 2012 when the company performed so well that workers received a month-and-a-half salary as bonus, adding: “If in 2017 we grow it the same way as we did in 2012, everybody will be laughing to the bank.”
He rallied the workers to give management the necessary support and encouragement and be bold enough to confront the challenges, adding that his doors would always be open.
Profile
Before assuming the position of Editor, Mr Tetteh had served in other capacities, such as News Editor, Political Editor, Eastern Regional Editor of the Daily Graphic and the Features Editor of the The Mirror, a weekly newspaper of the GCGL.
Mr Tetteh is an advocate of sustainable development having studied Development, Governance, Law and Democracy at the Institute for Development Studies of the University of Cape Coast for his master’s degree and Post Graduate Diploma in Communication Studies at the University of Ghana.
Between 2006 and 2013, he was the President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and served on the Governing Council of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) from 2006 to 2016.
A product of the GIJ, he is also a Gordon Fisher Fellow of the Massey College of the University of Toronto, Canada, during the 2000/2001 academic year.
