There is so much information available to journalists that it is criminal when they neglect internet research and turn out unprofessional and uninformed reports, Ms Ajoa Yeboah-Afari, Chairperson of Editors Forum, said on Tuesday in Accra.
What is worse is what can be regarded as another form of cyber crime; people shamelessly steal the work of others just because the material is available on line, she said.
Ms Yeboah-Afari said this at the launch of Ghana Businessnews.com (GBN) in Accra.
She said generators of original materials deserved respect, support and appreciation and urged people to credit sources, which they found good enough to use in their stories or put in their radio programmes.
Mr. Emmanuel K. Dogbevi, Managing Online Editor of the GBN, said though the site had been in operation for only a year, it had made such remarkable impact that its visitor profile had kept growing every day.
He said for one to be successful in business one must be prepared to take a firm posture and be prepared to fight on at any cost, adding the
media business terrain was not for the faint-hearted.
Mr. Dogbevi said journalism had long been held as the Fourth Estate of the Realm because of the prestigious position and importance to the good of the wider society but activities of some had pushed the dignified institution into disrepute and scorn.
He said a study recently published by the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition showed that important news and information received very little coverage and where they were covered they were buried in the inside pages.
Stories that made headlines were given poor treatment with many of the stories being one sided.
Mr Dogbevi said there was also the blatant abuse of the copyright laws and intellectual property rights of others even by leading media
organizations.
Mr Affail Monney, Vice President of the Ghana Journalists Association, urged all media houses to prioritize and intensify efforts to catch up with the global communication revolution.