A three-member delegation from MTN Ghana on Thursday paid a familiarisation tour of Ghana News Agency (GNA) to acquaint itself of the national wire service's operations and to strengthen the relationship between the two institutions.
Ms Georgina Asare-Fiagbenu, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications, Corporate Services Division, said MTN was building strong relationships with media organisations to help them to deliver on their mandates.
She said MTN supported the Agency during Election 2008 and was prepared to help the Agency through its difficult times to serve the nation better.
Nana Apau-Duah, General Manager of the Agency, thanked MTN for the support and assistance during the last elections and called for further assistance to ensure a serene working atmosphere for the staff.
"We appreciate the assistance MTN gave GNA in helping the Agency to train its staff as part of its preparation towards the coverage of the 2008 elections."
He called for further cooperation between the two organisations for mutual development.
Mr Boakye-Dankwa Boadi, Supervising Chief Editor, noted that the limitation of GNA's budget had affected its development in terms of news
coverage as it struggled to be competitive.
He said the nation's number one mobile phone service provider deserved a share of the commendation the Agency received for its coverage of Election 2008.
He appealed for more assistance to enable the Agency to improve on its average production of 50,000 words during the weekday and 10,000 words at weekends for distribution to its more than 100 subscribers made up of radio and television stations; online operators; newspapers; embassies and individuals.
The Supervising Chief Editor said currently GNA had 107 Journalists and 285 Stringers (part-time reporters) nation-wide and was in strategic partnership with international media organisations including United Press International (UPI) of USA; the Press Trust of India (PTI); YONHAP of South Korea and Xinhua of China.
He explained that through these partnerships, GNA was able to save for
Ghana a lot of foreign exchange, which was previously used to purchase international news.