A workshop on the Fundamentals of Media Relations and News Reporting has been organised by The Catholic Standard (https://CatholicStandardGhana.com), the only Catholic Weekly in Ghana for its Reporters, Stringers and Diocesan Communications staff in Ghana at the Society of African Missions Conference and Retreat Centre, Oshuiman-Amamoley, Accra from March 8 - 10, 2024.

During the workshop, the main facilitator, Mr. Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard, Chairman and Founder of APO Group, took participants through the Fundamentals of Media Relations and spoke about the types of media namely; print, radio television and online media platforms as well as the format these types of media use such as text, sound bites, video, pictures, etc. He also took participants through the preparation of Press Releases.  

Rev. Fr. Dieu Donne Kofi Davor, the Executive Secretary of the Department of Social and Pastoral Communications at the National Catholic Secretariat took participants through the Fundamentals of News Reporting; Mrs. Victoria Lugey, a Media Expert, took participants through Contemporary Trends in News Gathering while Ms. Doreen Darko, the Assistant Editor of Catholic Standard, also took participants through the editorial policy and in-house style of writing of The Catholic Standard. The facilitators also answered questions from the participants.

Earlier, Very Rev. Fr. Clement Kwasi Adjei, the Secretary General of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference who opened the workshop, expressed optimism that participants will make the best use of the opportunity to learn from the facilitators and their fellow participants and urged them to put the skills they will acquire into practice. “May I also urge you not to go back and sleep but put the skills acquired into practice”, he stressed.

He acknowledged and thanked Mr. Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard not only for his generosity to Catholic Media Practitioners, but also the Catholic Church throughout the African continent for the free Zoom facility his Organisation provides for all Episcopal Conferences throughout the continent.

The workshop was aimed at helping to build and enhance the capacities of participants to write good, impactful and development-oriented stories in this technological age where fake news, sensationalism, open bias and other negative and undesirable practices in pushing false narratives and personal agenda can trigger conflicts with its attendant unpleasant consequences. It is expected that achieving this goal would help boost the circulation and patronage of the Catholic Standard in the parishes and institutions of the Catholic Church in Ghana.

Sir Benedict Assorow, the Managing Editor of The Catholic Standard who delivered the closing remarks, also stressed a point made by Mr. Pompigne-Mognard that the Catholic Church potentially is the biggest media outlet in Africa given the fact that it is present in virtually every nook and crany but is not making use of the vast human and material resources at its disposal to be able to realize this potential and has thus become, “a sleeping giant”. He entreated participants to regularly send stories to The Catholic Standard for publication.

A total of 35 participants attended the workshop which was sponsored by Propaganda Fide, Vatican, through the instrumentality of  the World Catholic Association for Communication (SIGNIS).