The Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), Yaw Boadu Ayeboafo, has openly criticized the GJA’s directive, labeling it as “dysfunctional and unproductive” for the public interest.

He advocates for the use of legal channels to address such acts of impunity against journalists.

However, Albert Dwumfour, the President of GJA, in a conversation with Umaru Sanda Amadu on Eyewitness News on Citi FM, stated that attacks on journalists are assaults on democracy.

He emphasized that the association would not compromise the safety of its members and would persist in blacklisting individuals who perpetrate violence against journalists.

“First of all, an attack on any journalist or an attack on the media is an attack on our democracy and its role… We are the fourth estate of the realm and for that matter, the fourth arm of the state. Therefore, if we come under an attack and we are working in a contaminated environment, you are telling us that we should put our lives on the line and still be seen to be discharging our duties in a harmful or contaminated environment. Is that what our senior colleague is trying to say?”

“We still stand by our position, which is a civil and a democratic tool to exercise our displeasures,” he stated.